Amore Italiano
by puddingcup
Summary: 1949. The Cullens go Italy to meet the Volturi and Rachel Cullen’s existence is changed forever. She meets Caius and begins to find love again. Summary sucks, but there’s more of a summary inside! No B x E cuz Bella hasn't been born yet...
1. Daisies Are My Favorite

**Around 1949. Family consists of Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and Rachel (I added my own character!) Yes, I Realize that some things will be different, but you'll figure that out later. To help the story along, I will allow vampires to sleep and faint. AND, Caius has Black hair in this story, Aro has white hair... I didn't have New Moon when I started writing this.**

**Disclamer for the whole story because I will forget later: I own nothing except for Rachel Cullen and any other differences in this story!**

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I sat on the couch and listened to the silence in the room. The radio was on, but it was background noise. I didn't pay attention to it.

Instead, I contemplated how my 'family' and I were living our lives. We were doing the right thing. Drinking only animal blood. But could we be doing more? I knew that there were other people of our kind who gave into their thirst, and drank human blood. But the diets didn't seem so different. If we were really as good as we gave ourselves credit, why didn't it seem that way.

Animal and human blood didn't seem so different. Of course, they smelled different. Human blood smelled so much more appetizing than an animal's. It was harder to ignore human blood when we were thirsty than it was animal blood.

'_But if Edward is correct, and we truly are dammed, why are we denying ourselves?'_ I thought to myself. But when I thought the name _Edward_, the boy sitting beside the window staring out into the snow as it fell, immediately turned his head to look at me. He had heard my thoughts.

'_Because we can hear our conscience,' _Edward's mind spoke to me. '_Because we feel guilty when we hurt humans. Trust me on this one'._ Edward smiled faintly.

'_Is it really that different?' _I asked him with my curious mind. I was grateful that my powers were similar to Edward's. This way we could have conversations without others knowing.

Edward's talent differed slightly from mine. Edward could hear everyone's thoughts, all the time, and had to concentrate to block them out. I, on the other hand, had to concentrate to hear other's thoughts, and could block them out easily. I could also communicate to them, and could have a conversation with him or her in their mind. Also, when I was in contact with someone, I could instantly learn what someone was talking about, as long as his or her mind was concentrating on that subject. Occasionally, I could also 'suggest' things to others, which is very hard to ignore, or so I've heard. I found it difficult to explain to others, but Carlisle and Edward understood what I meant.

Carlisle is our coven's leader. He started our 'family', and has been a vampire much, much longer than any of us. He was born in the sixteen-forties, and was changed in the sixteen-sixties around the physical age of twenty-three.

'_Yes, it is different,'_ Edward replied to my unspoken question. _'And, I think it is best this way.'_

'_Obviously,' _I replied. _'If it wasn't best, we wouldn't be doing this would we?'_ I smirked at him. He shrugged with a smile and then went back to staring out the window. I was glad that no one else had noticed our seemingly random smiles. Rosalie was attempting to cross-stitch and Esme was reading a book. Emmett was up in his room, doing who knows what, and Carlisle was most likely still at work.

Carlisle was a very skilled doctor, and even though we do not need the money, he has dedicated his life to saving others. Carlisle, unlike the rest of us, was not changed when he was near death. His life was taken from him in the prime of his life. He never told me the complete story, and I resolved to ask him as soon as he came home.

I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood while I waited for Carlisle to come home. I got up from my seat by the fire, which was across from Rosalie and Esme, grabbed my coat and walked out the door.

I really didn't need a coat; it was more of a prop so the humans wouldn't become suspicious. While I walked, I began to think about my family members.

First was Carlisle. He's wonderful, of course. He has intelligence beyond compare, even for a vampire. He was an optimist. Compassionate. He is very skilled doctor. He's my father figure. My father cared greatly for Emmett and I, but was unlike other fathers since he was a Chicago gangster, so Carlisle was the father I never had. Over all, he is one of the best men I have ever met. Many of his nurses are unable to concentrate when he is around.

Next was Edward. He was changed by Carlisle in nineteen-eighteen when he was dying from the Spanish Influenza. Edward and I are the same age, seventeen, and to the humans, we are twins. He was the first Carlisle had ever changed. He, too, is wonderful and one of the best men I have ever met. He is my best friend, and has been ever since we met. When Carlisle wasn't around, he would explain things that were strange and new to me, things about vampires I had never known. He and I were the only ones in our coven who had special talents.

Then I thought about Esme. Esme was changed after Edward, after attempting to commit suicide since her first and only son died a few days after he was born. She is every bit as compassionate as Carlisle, which is probably one reason why they loved each other so much. She is the oldest of all of us, physically that is, at age twenty-six, and is a mother figure to all of us, except Carlisle, who is her husband, and like Carlisle, she was a parent figure. She too, was wonderful, just as much as Carlisle and Edward.

Rosalie was the next to cross my mind. She is my eighteen-year-old sister-in-law, a year older than myself. She was changed after Esme, and approximately four years before myself. She has stunningly good looks, even for a vampire, but her beauty could sometimes lead to vanity. She is the wife of my biological brother, Emmett. She was the third person Carlisle changed, after her drunken fiancée and his friends attacked her. She was left to die, but Carlisle found her and changed her. She was originally supposed to be a lover for Edward, but they have shared nothing but sibling love.

The last of my family (besides myself) is my older brother, Emmett. Emmett is my biological brother, and is technically five years older than me, but since he was changed about two or three years before me, he is physically three years older than me. Emmett was twenty years old when he was changed, after a bear while hunting had mauled him. Rosalie had found him while she was hunting, and immediately fell in love with him, but knew that she could not change him herself, so she carried him over one hundred miles back to Carlisle. Rosalie told me that she saved Emmett because he reminded her of her former best friend, Vera's, baby boy.

The wind blew harder for a moment, rushing through my golden-bronze hair the way it did when I ran at vampire speed, and then went back to its calm, placid state. The wind brought me out of my reflection, and I realized I was near the hospital. I decided I would go in and visit Carlisle, and help him if he needed it. I walked in what would be considered a 'fast brisk' to a human, then crossed the street and entered the small hospital.

"Good evening, Miss Cullen," the slender secretary said from her seat at the front desk. "How are you?"

"I am very well, thank you. Could you tell me what time my father will be finished with his work?" I asked politely. I noticed there weren't many people in the waiting room, just two, a man and a woman, who seemed to be waiting for someone else. By their thoughts, I could tell they were both worried about their young daughter, who was in the hospital after falling from a tree.

"Dr. Cullen should be finished in thirty minutes," the secretary replied with a smile. "He should be finishing his work right now, and making sure everyone is all settled for the night."

"Do you think it would be alright if I went in and see if he needs any assistance?" I smiled at the secretary. I knew before she verbally answered me, that it would be 'perfectly alright'.

She answered me and I thanked her as I headed off to look for Carlisle. He most likely wouldn't need my help, but I felt like coming anyway. I enjoyed being at the hospital. It seemed to help me test and build my ability to ignore the smell of blood.

I could see Carlisle exiting a room, and heading to the next.

"Hello, daddy!" I rushed over to him and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek, the way Rosalie and I always do whenever we were in public.

"Hello, Rachel. What are you doing here?" He didn't seem surprised to see me, but asked the question anyway.

"I just came to visit. I don't suppose you could use any help around here, could you?" I knew the answer, but I asked anyway.

"Actually, I'm almost finished, but if you would like to stay, I can give you a ride home," he answered.

"Alright," I answered. "I'll be right back," I added after a moment of thought.

"Where are you going?" he asked somewhat confused.

"You'll see," I replied cheerfully. I decided I would find a gift for Carlisle's patients in the gift shop. I walked in, and the cashier greeted me fondly.

"Good evening, Rachel," he said cheerfully. "Is there anything I can get you?" I didn't miss the double meaning in his words, but decided to ignore them.

"Yes," I replied and I saw a wide grin appear on his face. I frowned. This boy did not seem able to take a hint. "I will need," '_lets see_,' I thought, '_Carlisle had four? Yes, four patients today. It's a rather slow day.'_ "I will need five dozen flowers. In vases, please, Jerry," I smiled.

"Alright," he said, ecstatic that I had smiled at him. "Five dozen flowers. In five vases, I'm assuming?"

"Yes, please," I replied. Jerry was starting to get on my nerves. It was quite obvious I did not like him and yet he kept flirting with me.

"All right, here you go," he said. "Do you need any help with those?"

"No, thank you. I'll see you later, Jerry," I smiled at him taking all five of the thin vases in my hands. The vases were small around the middle, and then widened at the top, with the flowers shooting out beautifully.

"Do you want me to walk you home, Rachel? I'll be done with work in about twenty minutes!" Jerry called as I started walking out of the shop.

"No, thank you, Jerry," I replied firmly. "And please don't follow me again. Emmett and Edward didn't like that very much." I smiled at the memory of Jerry being beaten up by Emmett and Edward. I would have joined in, if it weren't for the fact that I wasn't supposed to have superhuman strength. Jerry stiffened and murmured something I wasn't supposed to hear, but, being a vampire, I did.

I chose to go around the rooms first, and then I would bring the fifth bouquet home. Esme always enjoyed fresh flowers. I got to three of the rooms, and then I started to get to the fourth room, when I heard an old man's determined voice.

"I told you I don't want any of that stuff! Get away from me, crazy doctor!"

"Sir, please calm down. I've told you, this will not hurt at all. This will take away the pain. Please calm down, sir," came Carlisle's calm, velvety voice. I walked into the room with my vase of flowers.

"Good evening, sir," I said to the man, interrupting the two men's argument. "Hello, father," I added to Carlisle. I set the vase down on the old man's bedside table. "I hope you don't mind, but brought some flowers. I thought it would brighten up the room," I added with a cheerful voice. Carlisle gave me a thankful look, and then stealthily got the man his medicine.

"Well, thank you, miss. It does brighten up the room, doesn't it?" The man said, forgetting completely about Carlisle. "Are those daisy? They're lovely! Daisies are my favorite!"

"Really?" I asked. "Daisies are my favorite, too," I lied. I noticed Carlisle had just slipped the man's medicine into his IV. In response to the medicine, a goofy smile came across the old man's face, and he slipped silently into unconsciousness. Carlisle laughed.

"If I'd known I could get him to cooperate by giving him flowers, I would have given him as many flowers as this room could hold," Carlisle chuckled. "Are those flowers for any special boys?" he asked suspiciously as he eyed my last vase.

"No," I replied forcefully. "They are for home. I thought mother might like flowers during the cold weather," I replied with a happier tone, but Carlisle didn't buy it. "If I ever fancy a boy, you'll be the second to know, or somewhere close to that."

"The second?" he asked suspiciously.

"Well, you try keeping a secret from Edward! That twin telepathy of ours can really come in handy," I replied, laughing at my little joke.

"I suppose you're right," he replied, laughing with me as we started walking toward the front of the hospital and Carlisle's black Packard.

"Since when have daisies been your favorite flowers?" he asked with a smile.

"Hmm, well they were my favorite when I gave them to that old man, but now white roses are my favorite again," I replied.

We waved at the secretary when we walked past her, and she gave Carlisle an extra friendly smile that was highly unnecessary. He turned to face me and I smirked at him.

'_Now, this is a complete guess, I have absolutely no proof, but… I think she likes you,' _I thought to him with a smile. He replied with a smirk, and to my thoughts with his own.

'_Lucky me.' _I couldn't help but laugh out loud. I could tell that the receptionist was giving me a funny look, and as soon as we were out of the hospital, Carlisle slapped me lightly on the back of the head.

"Sorry," I replied. "I just couldn't help it," I let out another giggle. Carlisle scowled and got into the driver's side of his Packard. I got into the passenger side and put on my seatbelt.


	2. Though This Be Madness

**For those of you who are nice enough to actually continue reading this story, THANK YOU! Review and let me know what you think about this! I sincerely hope you like this!**

The ride was mainly silent, even through our thoughts. Carlisle's day had been uneventful, and life at home was the same as always. When I had finally thought of something to say, we were already home. However, this would not stop my curiosity.

"Carlisle?" I asked.

"Yes, Rachel?"

"Where were you before you came to America?" I had finally remembered to ask the question that was nagging at my brain for a long time. I saw Edward crack a big grin, but no one else seemed to notice.

"Follow me," he said with a smile. "I'll show you." He walked up the stairs, and beckoned to me. I followed him, and he led me into his office. I had been in his office before, but I had never realized there were so many pictures on the wall where there were no books.

"As you know, I was born in London, England, where my father was and Anglican pastor. He led hunts for vampires, werewolves, and witches, trying to rid the world of sin and evil. Many innocent people died. When he became too old to lead the hunts, he passed the job onto me.

"I was less at ease about killing, but I was also smarter than him, and I was able to find a real coven of vampires, who happened to be hiding in the sewers of London. I organized a group hunt, and we attacked the coven. When we startled the vampires, one of them attacked me, and bit me.

"I knew that anything that had come in contact with the vampires would have to be destroyed. I knew that I would be killed if I were found. I hid myself in a potato cellar and transformed in secret. I emerged three days later as a newborn vampire.

"I was appalled by what I had become. At first I tried to kill myself, but as you know, it is not easy to kill a vampire, especially a young one. I tried drowning myself, jumping off cliffs, starvation, and so on.

"While I was starving myself in a cave in a forest, a herd of deer came and I attacked one of them. I fed off of it, and realized I could substitute animal blood for human blood.

"I found new life in this fact, and over two centuries I was able to perfect my ability to resist the scent of human blood. During these two centuries, I studied books at night, and used my knowledge at daytime.

"While I was studying in Italy, I stumbled across a coven of ancient vampires called the Volturi which included these three vampires named Aro, Marcus, and Caius," Carlisle said, as he pointed to a large picture of four men. I recognized one of them as Carlisle.

"So this is you," I started, pointing to his picture.

"And this is Aro," he pointed to the one snow-white hair. "This one is Marcus," he pointed to one of the vampires that had jet-black hair. "And this is Caius," he finished as he pointed to the other vampire with jet-black hair.

"They were much more educated and refined than the vampires living in the sewers of London, but still drank human blood. They tried to convert me to my 'natural food source' but failed.

"I then decided to move to the New World, where I worked night shifts in Chicago," he said coming to a closing.

"Where you met Edward," I stated.

"Yes. I suppose you know the rest of the story," he said as I nodded. "Does that give you an idea?"

"Yes, it does. Thank you," I said with a smile.

"Anytime," he replied.

"Carlisle, Rachel," Esme called. "We're going to dinner with the Johnsons tonight! We are going to a nice restaurant, so please wear something nice."

"I guess that's our cue," Carlisle said.

"Uh- huh," I replied. I couldn't stop staring at the man Carlisle had said was named Caius.

"Rachel?" Carlisle asked.

"Yes?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the picture of Caius.

"Are you coming?"

"Yes," I replied. _Why couldn't I take my eyes away from Caius? Why did I suddenly feel lightheaded? Vampires don't feel faint. Vampires couldn't possibly feel faint._

"Rachel, what's wrong?" Esme asked in an alarmed voice. I hadn't even realized she had come up stairs.

"Are you alright, Rachel?" I heard Emmett ask.

"Rachel?" Rosalie asked in a worried tone.

"I'm fine," I replied, not taking my eyes off of Caius. _What's wrong with me?_

"Rachel, you need to stop staring at Caius." I felt Edward's strong hands wrap around my arms. He lifted me off the ground and put me in his strong arms, but I kept my eyes on Caius.

"Why can't I look away?" I asked. I could hear myself; I was scared. "Carlisle, what's wrong with me?"

"I don't know, Rachel. I don't know," Carlisle replied. Edward was carrying me toward the door. I couldn't look away, until we were outside the office. Emmett closed the door, and I suddenly became aware of what was around me.

I was in Edward's arms, and he was lowering me to the ground. Emmett was blocking my view of the door, as if I could see through the door, and Rosalie was beside him. Esme had a worried look on her face, and Carlisle was leaning over me. I laid down and put my hands over my face.

"What was that all about?" I asked. "It's like I was hypnotized or something." Carlisle removed my hands and examined my face. I must have looked fine because he nodded, backed away from me, and then helped me sit up.

"Maybe I should call the Johnsons," Esme suggested. "Tell them you're not feeling well."

"No, I'm fine now. What ever happened, it must be over. I'm fine," I lied. I hated lying to Esme, but I didn't want them to worry about me.

'_It's not nice to lie, Rachel. Especially when you don't feel well,' _Edward thought.

'_This dinner is obviously important. I will not allow everyone to miss it because I had an…episode or what ever you wish to call it.'_ Edward gave me a stern look, but didn't press me further.

"Alright," I said trying to break the silence. "We're dressing nice for this dinner, correct?"

"Yes," Esme said slowly. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here?"

"Yes, I'm sure. But I would appreciate some help in choosing a dress," I said truthfully. Rosalie perked up immediately.

"I'll help you!" Rosalie said. I heard Esme giggle in her mind, and Emmett groaned in his own. Rosalie pulled me down the hallway, and into my room. She pushed me onto my bed, and immediately went to the closet.

'_Rosalie?' _I asked her with out speaking. _'Do you have any ideas as to what just happened?'_

'_Well, to come up with ideas, I would need to know what happened first.'_

'_Well, I asked Carlisle about what he did and where he went before he came to America, and he showed me the picture of him, Aro, Marcus, and Caius. Next thing I know, I can't take my eyes off of Caius's picture.'_

'_Hmmm,' _she thought. _'Do you believe in love at first sight?' _In the room next to mine, I could hear Edward laughing so hard, that were he human, he probably would have passed out.

"Those things happen!" I shouted at him before I sent my thoughts back to Rosalie.

'_I don't know. I guess so since you and Emmett fell in love as soon as you saw each other. Or so you tell me. But this is a picture, I haven't seen him face to face.'_

"Maybe a picture is all it takes," she said aloud with a smile.

"Perhaps," I answered her in the same manner in which she spoke to me. _I must admit_, I thought to myself, _this is the deepest, smartest thing I have ever heard her say. _All of a sudden I heard Rosalie squeal.

"Rachel, this is the perfect dress for you! Wear this one!" She tossed me a beautiful, strapless, black, floor-length, silk, taffeta gown and stole to go along with it. The dress had a side zipper, so it wouldn't be too hard to put on, and twenty-three taffeta buttons going from bust to waist.

"Thanks, Rosalie," I replied. She helped me put it on, and then we went into her and Emmett's room, where Emmett was already changed into his suit. He strolled out of the room to give us space and went down the stairs.

I helped Rosalie choose a beautiful red dress that complimented her blond hair and slender body. Her dress was a V-neck, knee-length dress, with the hem ending a few inches below her knees.

I noticed that she was unusually cheerful today. Normally she wore a scowl on her face, but today she smiled at everything.

"Rosalie, you seem really happy today," I said, letting my curiosity get the better of me.

"Emmett and I started planning our wedding this morning," she replied as if she had been dying to tell someone.

"That's wonderful, Rosalie! Wait, another wedding?" I asked curiously. "But I thought you were married a year after Emmett was changed."

"Well, yes, we were, but we're going to have another one. I really enjoyed the attention, and I thought it would be nice to have another one!" She replied, keeping her cheerful tone. I sighed.

"Well, at least I'll be able to attend this one, right?" I asked.

"Of course! You'll be one of the bridesmaids or the maid of honor. Esme was our maid of honor last time."

"Why, Rosalie. I'm touched," I smiled. We chatted idly as I helped her put on her dress. We walked back downstairs where everyone was waiting for us.

"Are you ready yet?" Edward asked.

"Yes, let's go," Rosalie replied with a scowl.

'_Nice going, Edward, she was being really nice earlier and now you have to ruin it.'_ I thought bitterly.

'_Well, someone has to put her back to normal,'_ Edward replied coolly. I scowled at him and we walked out the door. I took one last glance in the direction of Carlisle's office and then faced forward, determined not to think about the picture for the rest of the night.

**Review and tell me if you like this or don't like this! I hope to put up a lot of chapters soon... I have most of this written out but Writer's Block strikes me often so I'll be keeping those in reserve just incase I can't write anything worth reading!**


	3. The Fool Doth Think He Is Wise

**I hope you all like this story so far!**

**And just because I feel I should add a disclaimer (even though I said that the first one was for the whole story)**

**I DO NOT own anything Twilight related... I only own Rachel Cullen and I am trying to get rid of this Johnson family! :D**

Mrs. Johnson was a short, large, middle-aged woman with short blond hair and a pinkish face. Mr. Johnson was a tall, thin, no-nonsense, man, with black hair that was starting to gray. The seventeen-year-old, Miss Francine Johnson was unnaturally skinny, little, and had straight, jet-black hair that ended near the middle of her back, approximately the same length as Rosalie's. I recognized Mr. Jared Johnson, as my bothersome admirer, Jerry. His black hair, the same shade as his sister's, was set in a formal style, and his tall, thin figure, though not as tall as Emmett or Edward, loomed over his sister and mother like a shadow.

Jerry smiled at me and I smiled faintly back, while Francine kept gawking at Edward. Edward and Emmett glanced over at Jerry, then at each other, and I saw a huge grin appear on their faces. Apparently they had not forgotten their last encounter with Jerry. I stifled a laugh, and turned back to Jerry.

"Jerry, I didn't know your last name was Johnson," I said, trying to be polite and start a conversation. I couldn't believe I had never thought to find out what his last name was. If I had known he would have been here, I would have said 'yes' to staying home.

"Ah, you know this young lady, Jared?" his mother asked eyeing me over until she was satisfied.

"Yes, she comes to the hospital often," Jerry replied, trying to act cool. "She came by the gift shop today and we talked for quite a while."

"Ah," Mr. Johnson said. "Is this the girl you've been telling me about? Well done, Jerry!" I was about to ask what Jerry had been saying, but his father's thoughts said it all. I glanced over at Edward and Emmett, and thought to Edward, _'I give you complete permission to beat him up later'_. Edward received the message at once, and then translated it quietly to Emmett at vampire speed. Emmett cracked another childish grin, and I even saw Rosalie smiling.

"Right," Carlisle started, "shall we find a table?"

"Of course, of course," Mr. Johnson replied with pleasure. _'It's about time,' _I heard him think.

'_This man utterly impatient, but then again, he's not the kind of man I would think of as tolerant. At least I don't have to shake their hands,'_ I thought. Edward suppressed a grin, but couldn't hold in the look of shock when Francine immediately grabbed his arm as if he was the boy escorting her tonight. He gently removed her arm from his, and then followed Carlisle and Mr. Johnson. Jerry immediately grabbed my arm and started talking. I tried to escape his grasp, but I couldn't do so without exposing my vampire strength.

If only he had never touched me before. Perhaps the shock of a first encounter would have made him let go, but there was no use thinking about that now.

"I was so excited when I heard we would be going to dinner with you and your family tonight," he said. "I thought, 'it's destiny that Rachel and I will meet again so soon.' I think we'll be seeing a lot more of each other," he added with a smile.

"I don't know about that, Jerry," I replied, trying to let him down easily. "Besides, you may want to watch yourself. Your black eye just went away a few days ago," I added quietly. "I don't think you want another one so soon." Emmett was grinning behind me and Rosalie was trying to contain a smile, but was failing. None of the humans, except for Jerry, had heard me, but my family could hear all to well what I had said. I could tell Esme and Carlisle frowned slightly at my comment, but Edward was laughing in his head. Jerry frowned.

"I wasn't feeling too well that day," he claimed. "I was very tired. They couldn't hurt me on a regular basis. I'm two years older than Emmett, and five years older than Edward. I don't want to hurt your brothers, but if they attack me, I will do what I must."

'_Right,'_ Edward thought. _'And maybe, someday, Rachel will actually fall in love with you!' _I smiled, but Jerry took my smile as an encouragement, and kept talking.

"So, as I was saying, I'll be around more often. I was thinking maybe we could go to dinner next Friday. Or maybe see a movie?" he suggested. It would be rude to decline in front of his family and when we still had to spend the rest of dinner together, but I would not, no, could not, agree to go on a date with him. _'Edward?'_ I asked with my terrified thoughts.

'_I'm sorry, but it would seem that you will have to agree,'_ he thought grimly.

"That sounds," I paused searching for the correct word. "Interesting," I finally choked out.

'_Yes!'_ I heard Jerry think.

'_What have I done?' _I thought to myself.

'_What the hell? If my sister is going to date a boy, it is not gonna be a guy like _that_!' _Emmett shouted in his mind. I heard many other responses from my family, but pushed them all out of my head. This was going to be a long night.

"So, what should we do?" Jerry asked, trying to sound calm, but I could hear the excitement in his voice.

"Why don't we choose later?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Of course," he replied as we all sat down. "Perhaps somewhere more private." He smirked, obviously pleased with himself. I didn't even want to hear what he was thinking on the words 'somewhere more private.'

'_Why didn't I say I already had plans? I could find almost any other boy in this town so he wouldn't find out I was lying!'_

"So, Mr. Johnson, how is your business doing?" I asked, desperate to have a reason to talk to someone other than Jerry.

"Quite well, thank you!" Mr. Johnson bragged. Mr. Johnson was obsessed with his company, and I knew that if I got him started on the topic, he could keep it going for hours, which would keep Jerry quiet. "Actually, just the other day…" he continued. I nodded at what seemed like the appropriate times, and decided to start a conversation with a family member. I chose Emmett, because I knew he would have something to say and I hadn't spoken to him very much today.

'_Emmett, could you by any chance take Jerry into a dark alley, and beat him senseless?' _I could see Emmett was trying very hard not to grin, and then answered.

'_Not now, since you agreed to go to dinner with him, otherwise, I would gladly hurt him.'_

'_It's not like I wanted to say yes. I'll have to come up with an excuse now. How does the stomach flu sound?'_

'_Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, you can't fake excuses for everything. You have to find a real reason, or make him cancel. A car could accidentally hit him that night. Or, he could be mugged by a masked, incredibly muscular stranger.' _It took all that I had not to laugh, but I didn't have to try for too long, because I was then hit with a huge pain in the back of my head.

I lifted my hand to feel my head and turned around. It took me a minute to realize that I wasn't hit in the back of my head. The pain was _in _my head.

"Excuse me," I said, interrupting Mr. Johnson while he was in mid-sentence. "I need to use the restroom," I lied. _'If I'm not back soon, please come check on me. I'll be in the women's room,' _I told Esme.

'_Are you alright?'_

'_I don't know.'_ I walked toward the women's restroom and pushed open the door. No one was in the room, so I walked up to the mirror and stared at my reflection. I saw the same chalky white skin, the same topaz eyes, and the same golden-bronze hair. The same girl I saw every time I look in a mirror.

I pressed my palms to my eyes for a few seconds and then pulled them away. The pain only increased as the seconds ticked by.

I closed my eyes. I attempted to clear my mind, and I was almost successful, except for one man.

Caius. For some reason I couldn't get him out of my mind, and I've never even met the man! All I could think about was his faultless face. His jet black hair, his straight nose, his perfect jaw line, and of course, his intriguing, stunning, bright red eyes.

_Rachel, what are you thinking? You've never met the man and you're already infatuated with him! What's wrong with you?_ I tried to stop myself from thinking about him, but my headache only worsened.

_I didn't even know vampires got headaches,_ I thought to myself. _Finally, a thought that does not involve Caius!_ I slapped myself in the face for bringing Caius back into my mind. It was quite loud, and I hoped no one had heard it.

"Focus," I whispered to myself as I leaned on the sink. "Just focus. He'll go away soon, just focus. Focus." I rested my head on the mirror as I heard the heavy door open and close.

"Rachel? Are you alright?" I heard Esme's quiet, soothing voice. I lifted my head from the mirror, and faced Esme.

"I don't know. Esme, this is going to sound like a very weird question, but have you ever had a headache?" _'As a vampire, I mean,' _I added, sending her my thoughts on the rare chance a human was close enough to hear.

"I don' think so. I don't think it's normal, if that's what you mean. You'll have to ask Carlisle. Would you like to go home?" she asked with her motherly tone.

"Yes, if tonight's not completely important."

"It's not. I'll tell them you are sick, and need to go home right away," she smiled at me and then exited through the heavy wooden doors. I leaned my head back on the mirror, and after a minute, I heard the door open again, as Esme entered with Rosalie. They each put a hand on my shoulder to make sure I was able to walk steadily, and once I proved I could, they lowered their hands.

We exited the restroom, and headed toward the front of the restaurant, where Carlisle, Edward, Emmett, and the Johnson family were waiting for us.

"I'm so sorry to hear you are feeling ill," Francine said, speaking for the first time that I was aware. I couldn't hear a sincere tone, but let it go since my head was throbbing painfully.

"I'm sorry I'm ruining the dinner we had planned for tonight," I replied.

"Nonsense, my dear. We'll just reschedule for another time," Mrs. Johnson said, pushing aside my apology.

"I hope you get well soon, Rachel," Jerry said.

"Thanks, Jerry," I replied, trying to sound sincere, but it was hard since I wanted to smash his face in so badly. My family and I walked out the door together. Emmett and Rosalie headed toward Emmett's car, as the rest of us headed to Carlisle's car.

My headed started spinning rapidly. The next thing I knew, I was in Carlisle's strong arms being carried to the car. Then I faded into unconsciousness as Carlisle helped me into the car.

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**Please Review and tell me your thoughts!**


	4. Yet There Is Method In It

**Sorry this chapter is so short... at least I think it is... you should see the next one... but I'll try to put more up today! Thank you to those of you who have stuck with this story!**

My head felt like it had been smashed against a brick wall. That memory was all too clear. No, I suppose it didn't hurt that badly. But still, it was throbbing in pain.

I tried to sit up, but a firm hand grabbed my shoulder and gently pushed me back down.

"Slowly," Carlisle commanded. He put his hand lightly on the back of my shoulder and steadied me so I wouldn't move too fast. I found myself lying on the large couch in my room. My family was in the room with me and they were all watching me carefully.

"What happened?" I asked slowly. I put my hand up to my head and massaged my temples, where the pain had moved.

"You… fainted," Edward replied in disbelief.

"How? I didn't know we could faint." Every time one of my questions was answered, more popped into my throbbing head.

"Well I suppose that since we can sleep if we really want to," Carlisle started, "we can faint, too."

"But, to sleep, we have to _want_ to sleep. If my memory is correct, I didn't _want_ to faint." I inserted. "How long was I out anyway?"

"Not long," Emmett answered. "A couple of hours, two at the most."

"Do you remember what happened before you fainted?" Esme asked.

"We were at the restaurant. My head was hurting like there was no tomorrow. Then we left the restaurant, and I don't think I made it to the car on my own. I didn't miss anything I should have did I?"

"Well," Rosalie started carefully. "You… kind of…agreed to go on a date… with Jerry," she finished slowly, trying to bring me the news easily.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" I asked in disbelief. I couldn't have. Could I?

"Yes, you did. You were thinking it would be far too rude to decline when we would all have to sit together for the rest of the night," Edward answered.

"If I had only known," I muttered. Edward smirked. I could tell that he was concentrating on my thoughts to make sure I was fine.

Suddenly I asked, "Can we go to Italy?" I don't know where the question came from, and Edward seemed shocked, trying to decide why he hadn't heard my thoughts about Italy. _'Because I wasn't thinking about Italy,' _I told him with my thoughts. Everyone seemed shocked, except for Carlisle.

"I think that would be best," he answered calmly. I gave him a quizzical look and he started to explain. "Edward told us you were thinking about Caius before you fainted."

"I don't know why I was," I inserted. "I don't know why I couldn't get him off my mind. Do you have any ideas?"

"Just one, but it's complicated. In short, it means we need to go to Volterra, and pay a visit to my old friends," he explained softly.

"Go to Italy just after the war ended?" Esme asked in alarm.

"Carlisle, is that really safe?" I asked as other agreed.

"I believe so. It's either that, or we can stay here, and you might slowly go mad," he replied coolly.

"I choose safety!" I said, trying to lighten the mood. The rest of my family, however, disagreed.

"Rachel, we're not going to let you go mad," Emmett said, sounding serious for once in his life.

"Rachel, just pretend it's a vacation," Rosalie smiled.

"Mmm," I replied, pretending to enjoy the idea. "A vacation to a country who just stopped firing weapons at the Allies. Lovely."

"Why are you trying to convince us not to go," Esme asked. "You're the one who suggested we go to Italy."

"I don't know why I did. I wasn't even thinking about it, it just came out. Ask Edward if you don't believe me!" Edward nodded to the rest of our family and then looked back at me.

"Rachel," Carlisle started. "I think it's best that we take a trip to Italy, and that you meet Caius. I can't explain it, but it's best this way." I listened to his mind and nodded. The reason did seem very complicated. I couldn't understand it, even when it was in his mind, but then again, I wasn't feeling my best.

"All right, but if something bad happens, I'll never forgive myself," I surrendered.

"That's the spirit, Rachel!" Emmett jumped enthusiastically. Everyone else smiled, and I realized I was smiling too.

"Okay, so when do we leave?" I asked.

"As soon as we can," Carlisle answered with a grin.

"Then I'd better start packing," I sighed as I stood up carefully and walked over to my closet. My family walked out of my room and I heaved another loud sigh.

"I heard that," Edward said from his room, which was located next to mine.

"You were supposed to!" I murmured.

I grabbed my clothes, but realized I had no idea how long we would be there. "Carlisle? How long will we be there?" I asked.

"I don't know. It depends on how long we want to stay. Just pack whatever you want to, and we can get whatever else we need when we get there," he replied from the other room.

I sighed again and went back to packing. It wasn't much of an answer, but it would do. Surely there would be stores in Volterra.

Then I came across a happy thought. Since we would be in Volterra for a while, I wouldn't be able to go out with Jerry. I couldn't wait until the time when I would make the call.

**Your thoughts in a review would be greatly appreciated!**


	5. Arrival

**I am so very sorry that this chapter is so short. But there wasn't much for me to write considering I have no idea on what to say in this chapter!**

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Italy was magnificent. There were no other words to describe it. Well, maybe wonderful, beautiful, stunning, amazing, and a few other high-praising adjectives.

It didn't take as long to get to Volterra as I thought it would. We flew into Rome on an airplane, which took a very long time, and then took a car to Volterra, which took a few more hours. I think we could have gotten from Rome to Volterra sooner if we ran, but with Rosalie's many suitcases, it seemed like a good idea to drive.

The scenery was beautiful. It was the one thing that made the long drive worth it.

Edward and I decided to entertain our self by debating random topics in our heads. Most of the time we were on the same side, and just pointed out the pros versus the cons of a topic, for example, the recent bombing on Japan. We both had the same views, but debated the moral ethics versus the battle tactics.

When we became bored of this, we started playing I Spy, except this was rather easy considering the fact that we could just hear each other's thoughts.

When we finally gave up attempting to play I Spy, we were just outside the city limits.

'_This is it',_ I told myself. Edward heard my thoughts and gave me an encouraging smile.

'_Just get to know him before you become infatuated with him,' _he told me silently with a smirk visible on his face. I gave him a low growl, making the rest of our family turn to look at us. Edward smiled knowing he had successfully annoyed me. I glared at him and then turned toward the window.

I hadn't expected the city to be so beautiful. I knew it would be gorgeous, of course, but it was brilliant. I didn't know a place could be so beautiful.

Our human driver, who fortunately hadn't heard my low growl, came out and opened the door to our black limousine. He offered his hand and I took it as he helped me out of the car as gave him an electric shock as I do to everyone.

The driver seemed to know we needed to park in the shadows since he had parked underneath a low bridge. _He must work for the Volturi_, I figured.

Once everyone was out of the car, he closed the door and led us to the sewer that was on the ground. He removed the top and beckoned us to hop in after he had done so.

The sewer led into dark, damp tunnel that was lit with torches that gave off barely any light. We followed our human driver through the tunnel.

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**I don't feel like actually saying anything down here, but I still feel I should put something down here... :)**


	6. The Volturi

**If you are wondering why I chose the name Kathryn, it is because my friend told me to use her name... That's why.**

When we reached the end of the tunnel I saw a small reception desk, at which sat a beautiful, young vampire. She was probably around the physical age of twenty-six, just like Esme, and had dark brown hair and velvety red eyes. Her eyes, I noticed, were unlike most vampires' eyes. They were the same color red as those who drank human blood, but the velvety look in her eyes was different. Most human blood drinking vampires had eyes that sharp look in their eyes that could change depending on their moods, but her eyes looked as if they were always that soft.

"Good afternoon," she purred. "My name is Kathryn. It is good to see you again, Carlisle. And who have you brought with you?"

"It is good to see you again, too, Kathryn. This is my family. My wife, Esme and my sons, Edward and Emmett, and my daughters, Rosalie and Rachel," he replied as we acknowledged ourselves when we heard our name.

"It is nice to meet you," Kathryn said when Carlisle was done introducing ourselves.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, too," I replied politely. She came to shake our hands, first Carlisle, then Esme, Edward, Emmett, Rosalie, and finally myself.

When she held her hand out to me, I almost took it but pulled back before I touched her.

"I'm sorry in advance if I shock you," I explained before I put my hand back to shake hers.

"It is not a problem," she replied sweetly as she shook my hand.

I could feel the electric shock flow from my body to hers. She tensed up at first, but quickly relaxed. I gave her an apologetic smile and she smiled back as she thought, _'It is not a problem at all, as I said. And if you are wondering, yes, I know you can hear my thoughts, as can Edward.'_

'_You can sense our… special talents?'_ I asked as we dropped our hands.

'_Yes, that is my 'special talent' as you call it. I was born blind, but I had a specialty in sensing things. I carried the talent into my vampire life.'_

'_Amazing,' _I heard Edward think. _'And now, she has her sight back?'_

'_I don't know. Probably, since she's a vampire now. You ask her.'_ I replied to Edward. I most certainly did not want to seem rude so I decided it would be best not to ask. He apparently didn't want to seem rude either so he kept his mouth shut.

"So are you here just to visit?" Kathryn asked casually.

"Yes," Carlisle replied. "I thought my family would like to see Volterra after hearing so many stories about it," he added, leaving out the part about my 'episode.'

"Do you already have a hotel picked out? We would love to have you stay with us if you do not already have plans," Kathryn continued.

"Excellent!" Carlisle replied cheerfully. "We would love to accept."

Kathryn then led us through another tunnel, which seemed shorter than the last one. This one was lighter, too, and about halfway through the tunnel, decorations started appearing on the wall.

When we exited the tunnel, or long hallway as it started to appear as, we met a tall, dark haired vampire.

"Carlisle," Marcus said, at first surprised, but then glad. "It has been too long."

"It has indeed, Marcus. This is my family Esme, Emmett, Rosalie, Edward, and Rachel," Carlisle replied, introducing us all again. Marcus bowed his head in greeting.

"It is nice to meet you all," he said. "Are you staying here?"

"Yes, I was just about to give them all rooms, but I'm late. Will you show them to their rooms?" Kathryn asked Marcus.

"Of course. It would be my honor," he replied. "If you'll just follow me. I will have your things brought up by your driver, Marcello."

We walked down another hallway and took a few turns now and then. When we finally stopped at a door, Marcus brought out a ring of keys.

"Carlisle, Esme, I hope you find this room to your liking. If you need anything, just let one of us know," Marcus said as he took off one of the keys and handed it to Carlisle.

We walked to the next door, which was several feet from Carlisle and Esme's room, which leads me to think these are large rooms, Marcus took off another key and handed it to Emmett.

"Emmett, Rosalie, I hope you also find the room to your liking," he said before Marcus, Edward, and I walked to the next room.

"You could tell they were married?" Edward asked.

"Yes," Marcus replied. "I can see relationships. It is my talent."

We walked to the next room and again, Marcus pulled another key off the ring and handed it to Edward.

"I hope you will also find everything suitable," Marcus said as Edward opened the door. As soon as he had closed his door, Marcus turned to me.

"That leave just you and me," he said.

"I suppose so. So how does you talent work? How do you see relationships?" I asked.

"It is hard to explain. There is a kind of… bond between the two people. And it differs. I can see love relationships, friendships, a family relationship, et cetera."

"Ah," I replied. "I see."

"Do you?" he asked somewhat amused.

"Yes, that is my talent. I can hear minds. So can Edward, except he always hears them and has to concentrate to block them out. I'm the opposite. I have to concentrate a little to hear someone's mind, although it's not very hard, most of the time it's like walking, you don't have to think about it very much, but you still need to want to do it. I can also hear them just by physically touching them. It's normally clearer that way. Sometimes, I can even 'suggest' things to others," I explained.

"Interesting. Aro has the same talent, although he cannot hear someone's thoughts without contact and he cannot 'suggest' things to others. He needs to be touching you, and then he can hear all the thoughts you have ever had."

"Fascinating. I would like to meet him sometime. And Caius. Carlisle has told me a few stories about you all," I replied, subtly slipping Caius into the conversation, if only for a moment.

"Soon, perhaps. I hope you also find your room decent," Marcus said, handing me the key to my room.

"Thank you," I said.

"I will see you soon, Rachel," he replied and then he was gone. I opened and closed the door silently and then headed into the middle of the room.

There was a large, dark blue couch on one wall of the room and a bed in a corner. The bed was in the corner of a regular wall that was painted light blue, and a large glass wall, which was like a huge window that over looked a large, beautiful courtyard. The couch was on the wall opposite of the wall on which a part of the bed was.

The room had a very Mediterranean feel to it, which didn't surprise me since we were in Italy. It had many hues of blue that all blended together magnificently.

There was a large wooden desk and many dressers and drawers where I would put my clothes in when they came.

Then, as if they had somehow heard me think of them, there was a knock on my door. I opened it, and our driver, whose name I now know is Marcello, handed me my suitcases.

"Is there anything you need, Miss?" he asked politely.

"No, thank you, I think that will be all," I replied in a sweet tone as he turned to leave.

I closed the door and turned around to look at my room again. _Yes, this will do very nicely,_ I thought.

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**Hope you liked it... I'm pretty sure that the next one will introduce Caius!**


	7. Shocking First Encounters

**Thanks for sticking with this story!**

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By the time I had all my things put into the drawers, which didn't take long since I did so at vampire speed, I heard another knock on the door. Before I had a chance to open it, Emmett came in, followed by Rosalie and Edward.

"Hi, Rachel!" Emmett's loud voice boomed.

"Hello, Emmett. And to what occasion do I have the pleasure of you breaking down my door?" I asked, rather annoyed at his bursting in with barely any notice.

"I knocked!" Emmett said, trying to look as if he were hurt by my biting remark, but failing miserably.

"So… have everything put away?" Rosalie asked, trying not to laugh at the look on Emmett's face.

"Yeah. How about these rooms, huh? They're amazing!" I replied.

"Yes, they are, aren't they," Edward agreed.

"They must have humans stay here sometimes, too, since they have beds here," Emmett added. _'Ha ha! I like this place. Rosalie and I…'_

"EMMETT!" Edward and I shouted.

"Keep your thoughts clean!" Edward added, still yelling.

"Why? Why did you have to think that? Now I feel contaminated!" I shrieked as I ran over to the bed in my room and threw myself face first into the soft, dark blue comforter.

"What happened?" Esme asked running into my room.

"What did Emmett break this time?" Carlisle inquired as he followed Esme into my room.

"He broke my sanity!" I shouted into the covers of my bed. I must admit they are very comfortable.

"He broke my mind!" Edward added shaking his head.

"Rosalie, don't even say it!" I told her, pulling my head off the covers.

"Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile.

"So nothing's wrong?" Esme asked with relief.

"No, there is something wrong. My brother," I answered.

"Rachel, there's nothing wrong with me. Someday you're going to feel the same way about some guy you meet," Emmett countered with a smile.

"At least I won't think it near people who can hear my thoughts!" I added icily as I threw one of my pillows at him.

"You'd better not," Edward said.

"Is everything alright?" came a man's hurried voice. Before I looked up I already knew whom it was, even though I had never met the man. I knew he would have shocking crimson eyes, an attractive, pale complexion, and jet-black hair-- possibly a little wind-blown after running at vampire speed.

"Yes, everything's fine. We're sorry we disturbed you, Caius," Carlisle said.

"Carlisle! It is good to see you again! We have missed you," Caius replied. "And you didn't disturb me at all. I was on my way down here, actually. We were wondering if you all would care to join us for a small reunion. Many of us still have yet to meet your family."

"Of course. We would love to," Carlisle answered. "This is Esme, my wife, and this is Edward, Rachel, Rosalie, and Emmett, my children."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Caius," I said.

"The pleasure is all mine," he corrected. He came to shake our hands, and when he got to me I paused the way I did when Kathryn came to shake my hand earlier.

"I'm sorry if I shock you. I tend to shock people on first contact," I apologized before I put my hand back.

"Yes, you do," he replied looking straight into my topaz eyes with his burgundy ones before shaking my hand. I am so glad I do not have blood to rush to my face, because I would be a very bright shade of pink if I did.

When I shook his hand, I could again feel the electric current course from my body to his, although this was a much, much larger shock than I normally give. It was almost as if I had been struck by lightning.

"Sorry," I murmured as I quickly and reluctantly removed my hand from his grasp. He gave me a quick smile before turning back to the rest of my family.

"If you will follow me please, they are waiting," Caius said as he gave me on last glace before he turned around.

'_So…'_ Edward thought to me.

'_What?'_ I asked.

'_Nothing. Except you like him.'_

'_I'm sorry, what was that?'_

'_Come on, Rachel. It was obvious when you saw the picture that you were bound to like him.'_

'_I think I saw the picture before we knew we were going to come to Italy and met him.'_

'_Look, it doesn't matter, just admit it.'_

'_I thought you were the one who told me to get to know him before I became infatuated with him.'_

'_All right, all right, you can admit it later then, after we get to know him, which I'm guessing will be after our little reunion.'_

I frowned, forgetting that no one else would know why I was frowning. I received a strange look from Rosalie, but when she looked at Edward, she seemed to understand.

'_Besides, that was one big electric shock, was it not? The largest one you've ever encountered, correct?'_

I didn't answer his questions and instead threw him an angry, inhuman look before turning away.

'_Okay, you don't have to answer. But have you noticed we can't hear his mind?'_

'_So? Maybe that's his talent.'_

'_Yeah, but not many of us can do that. And you like people who can do things no one else can.'_

'_Oh, just give it a rest, will you? I will admit what I want to admit when I want to admit it.'_

'_So you do like him? Finally…' _I didn't get a chance to hear what he was thinking because I decided to stop listening. I threw him another look before I entered the room Caius had been leading us to.

The room was very large and magnificent. It was exactly how I pictured a room in the _Titanic _only more beautiful and larger. It was painted scarlet, gold, and ivory and had a large hearth on one side of the room, giving it a welcome feeling.

The couches in the room were crimson to match the walls and there were mahogany tables that fit in nicely with the room's warm feeling.

Caius led us over to a large couch that fit our entire family as Carlisle went over to say hello to a few old friends. One of them I recognized as Aro, the only man in the picture in Carlisle's study I haven't met yet.

I reopened my mind's ears and heard Rosalie and Esme obsess over the room's loveliness. Emmett was trying not to be impressed by the room's splendor, but was failing horribly. Edward seemed to realize my mind was open again and decided to start a new conversation.

'_Isn't this room amazing?' _he asked.

'_Yes, it is. Very stunning. I wonder who…'_ but I didn't get to finish my thought. Carlisle called us over to meet his old friends, which I wasn't looking forward to.

It's not that I dislike meeting new people. On the contrary, I love meeting new people, but it gets tiring to say 'sorry, I'm probably going to shock you' over and over again. I'm not even sure why, but I shock people on our first touch. With the humans, I don't have to say sorry in advance, I just pretend like it was an accident, which technically it was, instead of something I knew was going to happen.

I shook hands with Aro, and Edward and I were able to start a conversation on our similar talents with him. He was a very pleasant man to talk to and had many interesting stories that spanned through the past couple of millennia. He seemed just like Emmett, despite his serious appearance, as if he was always ready to play a trick on someone.

I also met many other Volturi members, including Heidi, whose beauty was practically equal to Rosalie's. I met mainly the guard members since there were many more of them, including Jane, who could inflict an illusion of pain, and her brother Alec, who could do the same, and many, many others.

Edward and I talked to Marcus, Kathryn, Heidi, Aro, and Caius, the main leaders of the Volturi, most of the night. I learned that Kathryn had major feelings for Marcus. I couldn't decide if Marcus liked Kathryn as well, but there were strong suggestions that he did.

I couldn't help but glance at Caius once in a while. I could have sworn he looked at me occasionally too, but I didn't dare turn to look him straight in the eyes for fear of being lost in them with so many people around.

I found that I was able to talk to them as if I had known them forever, and soon we were all joking and teasing each other. Emmett, Rosalie, Carlisle, and Esme came to join us after a while.

**YAY!! You Met Caius! He ends up being kinda sneaky... or maybe Rachel is just stupid/ stubborn. But that'll be in future chapters!**


	8. Mr Cuddles and Laurent

**YAY! Emmett and Rachel being stupid! This part isn't very important, but there are somethings you pay attention to in there!**

I think Emmett and I kept everyone extremely amused with our continuous banter

I think Emmett and I kept everyone extremely amused with our continuous banter.

"I think the reason why you shock people is because you used to shock everyone when you were alive," Emmett said.

"Really? How so?" I asked, playing along since I already knew what he was going to say.

"Well, no one expects a gangster's daughter to be so smart. They expected you to be wild or like a prostitute," Emmett laughed.

"Emmett, you're so stupid. You just made fun of yourself. You don't shock people because when you were alive, people expected you to be stupid. Well, I guess they were right, although, I'm not sure that I want to know if you were a prostitute or not," I returned. Even Rosalie laughed at that one. Emmett frowned but quickly thought of another retort.

"Does everyone know about your former boyfriend?" Emmett asked with a wide grin as he watched my eyes grow large in a mix of fear that he would bring back the memories and anger that he had even thought to tease me with it. That one caught me of guard. No one, not even Emmett, brought up Laurent.

"Does everyone know about your stuffed bear?" I asked returning the grin. For a moment he looked confused, but then he glared at me.

"No, and I don't think they need to," he replied sternly.

"What bear?" Edward asked, wanting to hear it aloud.

"Yeah, I've got to hear this one," Rosalie added.

"Well, when Emmett was younger, he used to have a little stuffed bear," I started. Emmett tried to tackle me but I ran out of his way just in time. "He used to take that little stuffed bear everywhere," I added while running away from Emmett. "In fact, didn't it look like the one that attacked you, Emmett?"

"You leave Mr. Cuddles out of this," he shouted while chasing me. Suddenly he stopped. "I just said that name out loud, didn't I?" I looked at him wide-eyed and nodded solemnly. "Well, now you all know about my little stuffed bear," he sighed as we walked back over to our group.

"Aww, it's okay, Emmett," I said patting his shoulder.

"Yes, yes, it is," he said grinning again. "Because now I can tell everyone about Laurent." I looked at him wide-eyed for a moment, but then calmed my face.

"I supposed I deserve it," I said solemnly. Beside me, Edward started to laugh, but then covered it up with a cough. He could hear what I was planning.

"Well, before she turned into a vampire…" Emmett began but then suddenly tensed up. He quickly relaxed and then said, "I think I would like some tea. Would anyone else care for some tea?" he asked in a pleasant tone.

"No thank you, I'm fine. Emmett, I believe the tea is over there. Go get it, big boy," I told him as I gave him a soft pat on the back. He walked over to where the tea was and then Edward and I started cracking up.

"Rachel," Esme started as severely as she could, which wasn't very harsh. "I thought you decided you wouldn't do that to him anymore."

"I'm sorry, Esme. I couldn't help it," I said as I bowed my head. Marcus seemed to be in thought for a moment, but then suddenly seemed to understand what was going on.

"Was that your 'suggestion'?" he asked with smile. I looked up and then smiled back.

"Yes. It comes in handy, doesn't it?" Even Esme started laughing after her attempt at anger. Emmett came back, carrying a small cup of tea.

"I hate you," he said, stopping to stand beside me.

"Aww, I hate you, too, Emmett," I said as I put my arm around his shoulder and squeezed him in a half-hug. He gave in and returned my hug for a moment. "You don't remember what you were going say, do you Emmett?" I asked as I pulled my shoulder away.

"No, not really," he answered as Esme gave me a semi-stern look.

"That's okay," I said with a smirk. "You'll think of it again some other time," I added with a sigh.

**OK... I'm sooooooo very sorry that I might not get any chapters up soon, but I'm going on vacation to visit family... Please don't hit me! :D I'll try to put one more chapter up today!**


	9. Saving Rachel

**OK... I hope you all like this chapter! If you want the translations for anything said in Italian, I used this site: Hope you find it useful! Just copy and paste to make sure there are no mistakes!**

When the little party finally ended, Caius led us back to our rooms, just incase we couldn't remember which hallway to turn at or something like that. We went a different way to our rooms than we did coming to the magnificent room we were just in.

Esme and Carlisle went into their room first, then Rosalie and Emmett, and then Edward.

"I hope you enjoyed our little party," Caius said to me after Edward closed his door.

"I did. It was wonderful. Did you enjoy yourself?" I asked.

"Immensely," he replied with a smile as he looked into my eyes.

When he smiled he looked like an angel, not that he didn't always. His eyes twinkled in what I would assume as happiness.

His eyes were perfect, too. It was the same shade of burgundy, as the rest of the human blood-drinking vampires, but like Kathryn's, they were different at the same time. I don't think I'll ever be able to explain it, but it was pleasing, and made me smile in return.

"Rosalie, Esme, and myself just about fell in love with the room. It's so beautiful," I said, trying to keep myself from being lost in his eyes.

"Non bello come lei," he replied softly.

"What does that mean?" I asked with the same softness his voice had. He smirked.

"Good night, Rachel," he said without answering my question.

"Good night," I replied as I opened my door and entered.

I closed the heavy door gently behind me and smiled. I could hear him chuckle lightly from behind the door as he walked away.

A few minutes later, while I was sitting on the indigo couch in my room, contemplating my recent conversation, I heard the door open.

Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie entered my room, all three of them with smiles on their faces.

"What?" I asked when I couldn't stand their outrageously creepy smiles.

"You like him," Edward said before Emmett or Rosalie could say anything.

"Perhaps," I replied with a smile while getting up to look out the large window. I hadn't noticed before, but there is a door on one side of the large window wall that leads out to a small marble balcony. "But I don't remember thinking that. Do you?"

"What does 'non bello come lei' mean?" Emmett asked.

"I don't know, but he said it with such a sweet tone," Rosalie added.

"Yeah," I replied dreamily while looking out the window. "So?" I asked snapping out of my phase. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Rachel, you're so stubborn," Edward sighed.

"She's been that way forever," Emmett inserted sorrowfully.

"Come on, Rachel. It's obvious he likes you too," Rosalie explained.

"We don't know that," I reminded her. "As I recall, neither Edward nor I could hear his thoughts."

"But he kept looking at you! And when you said you were going to shock him, he said yes you did before you even touched him!" Rosalie claimed. "Okay, you know what? You two. Out," she demanded.

"What?" they both asked at the same time.

"But she's my sister!" Emmett complained.

"Yeah, and she's my twin!" Edward added in a tone so serious, as if we really were twins.

"Doesn't matter. OUT!" Rosalie demanded again with a stern look. The look she gave them is obviously what got them moving because they immediately started exit the room.

"No matter, my dear Emmett," Edward said with a smile.

"And why is that, my dear Edward?" Emmett asked in a similar manner.

"Because I will just listen to their minds, old chap," Edward grinned.

"Good man, Edward, good man. Invasion of privacy is always the best way to go! Right on!" Emmett exclaimed as they exited the room. Rosalie rolled her eyes and then turned back to me.

"Will you admit it now?" she asked pleadingly.

"Admit what?" I asked still staring through the massive window. Rosalie groaned and then smacked her head with her hand.

"Fine. Then I'll just force it out of you," she said with a smirk. That made me turn around.

"You wouldn't," I said cautiously.

"I would," she said as she moved toward the door. I couldn't see what she was doing, but I heard a loud 'click' and took a guess.

"Rosalie, think about what you're doing," I said as I stealthily moved toward the door that led to the marble balcony.

"Admit it. Now," she demanded.

"No. No, I don't think I will," I said casually as if she wasn't about to force the words out of my mouth.

Rosalie darted toward me at the exact second I calculated she would and I moved out of her way before she could pin me to the window. I ran to the door that led to the balcony, which was luckily unlocked, and opened it just far enough for me to slide through and closed it before she had a chance to follow me. I held it closed with all my strength, and fumbled with the key that Marcus gave me in my pocket. I prayed it would fit the lock, and thankfully, it did.

I locked the glass door and then backed away. Rosalie was looking at the lock.

'_You think this is going to stop me? I can pick this lock in a second,' _she thought before she bent down to look at the lock. I took that as my cue and jumped off the balcony.

I wished that I had jumped onto the balcony that led to Edward's room instead; I had no idea where I was going to go now. I heard the lock rattling and decided to run under the balcony for the moment so I would have a second or two to think.

'_Hey, Edward! Now would be a good time to come help!' _I shouted in my mind.

'_No. No, I don't think I will,' _he replied quoting me.

'_My famous last words,' _I laughed in my head, not even having time to be annoyed he wouldn't help to save me from Rosalie's wrath.

I thought for a moment, and decided to run across the courtyard and hide behind one of the pillars. She would most likely see me, but it was worth a shot.

I heard the lock click open and I ran for it.

I jumped over a marble bench that matched the balconies and ran through the rest of the courtyard. I jumped over another bench and over the ledge that led to an outdoor hallway like the one under my balcony. I spun quickly to the side so the pillar would block my petite figure from Rosalie's view.

Rosalie jumped over the ledge right beside me and attempted to stop sliding, but failed and kept sliding until she hit the ledge on the other side of the outdoor hallway, tripped over it, and fell into the bushes.

I laughed as I risked going over to help her up and I noticed she was laughing too. I pulled her up with one try and helped her get the twigs out of her hair.

"I hope I am not interrupting anything, am I?" I heard Caius ask from within the shadows.

"No, not at all," I replied cheerfully. "More like saving me from a savage beast," I added. Rosalie glared at me but then looked back to Caius. He chuckled lightly before replying.

"I am glad to be of service," he responded. "But this 'savage beast' does not look so vicious," he added with a laugh.

"Wait until you get to know her," I giggled.

"Just you wait. I _will_ make you admit it," she said giving me a meaningful glance.

"Admit what?" Caius asked.

"Oh, nothing," I said before Rosalie had a chance to answer. "Just some girl thing."

"Ah," he replied seeming to suddenly loose interest in our conversation, although I didn't need to hear his thoughts to know he was still curious. "It's a nice night tonight, is it not?"

"It is wonderful," Rosalie answered. "Anyway, I need to find Emmett," she excused herself. "I'll see you both later," she said as she gave me a knowing look before leaving.

"Good night," Caius and I said at the same time, making us both smile.

"So, are you heading anywhere specific?" Caius asked.

"No, you?" I returned.

"No, not really. I had planned to sit out here in the courtyard. I do most nights when the weather is nice. Care to join me?" he asked with another smile.

"Sure," I said, returning the smile as we sat down on one of the white marble benches. I looked up at the stars for a moment, and I could have sworn that I felt his eyes on me instead of the stars.

"It's so beautiful," I said in awe.

"Yes," he replied tenderly. "But again, non bello come lei."

"And you're still not going to tell me what that means?" I asked as he smirked again.

"No, not yet."

"But sometime?"

"Perhaps," he answered with a devastatingly handsome smile.

We talked for what seemed like forever. We talked about our lives, about our families, and several other things. I found myself talking to him as I did earlier, as if we were best friends and had known each other forever. I even found myself starting to talk about Laurent, but quickly stopped, saying it was another story for another time.

Eventually, we lost track of time, and the sun came up, making the courtyard appear as if it were filled with golden air.

"We should probably get going. The sun is very bright today." Caius said a while after the sun came up.

I nodded, still not wanting to leave, and stood up with him. He led me through the many hallways and we stopped at my door.

"I suppose I'll see you soon," I said as I started to turn toward the door.

"Very soon," he replied with a smile. I smiled back and then opened the door.

**YAY!! I think that I like this chapter! Tell me your thoughts please!**


	10. Ecstasy of Love

**I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while... I was up in Minnesota :D I had a fun trip!**

**Anyway... I'll be going to Florida soon (leaving Friday) and I'll try to put up at least one more chapter... maybe two!**

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"I told you," I heard Emmett's voice say from within the shadows of my room

"I told you," I heard Emmett's voice say from within the shadows of my room.

Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward came out from a shadowed corner of my room.

"I think we were right. Don't you?" Edward asked Emmett and Rosalie.

"We were watching you the entire time," Rosalie claimed with a satisfied tone.

"Wow," I replied. "That must have been really boring for you. I don't know how you all could have lasted the entire night just watching me."

"Well, those two almost went crazy, but I thought it was entertaining. It was like a romance movie, like in 'Gone With the Wind,' it was wonderful!" Rosalie stated.

"Well, I'm glad I my life seems as if it will mess up horribly in the future," I replied coldly as I stalked over to the bed and sat down.

"Come on, Rachel, you know what she means," Edward said soothingly.

"Yeah, we're just happy you found someone," Emmett added as he patted my back as gently as he could.

"Rachel, whether you admit it or not, you like him," Rosalie declared.

"If you guys were really listening to our conversation, then you also heard me mentioning Laurent. It's still rather hard for me to talk about it, and I don't think I'm ready for another relationship just yet," I said solemnly.

"Rachel, that's exactly what I thought after the incident with Royce, but then I found Emmett, and things changed," Rosalie said kindly.

"I suppose you're right," I sighed. That must have been the answer they were looking for, because they all grinned foolishly. I sighed again. "So, what are we going to do today?"

"I'm not sure," Emmett replied, "but I think Esme wanted to go sight-seeing soon."

"I think it's too bright outside to go out in public," Edward inserted. "We'll have to go at night."

"Well, then let's go ask Esme and Carlisle what we are going to do today," Rosalie suggested. Edward and I looked at each other and shared a knowing glance.

"That's a good idea, Rosalie," I said.

"Yeah, why don't you and Emmett go ask them? We'll wait here," Edward added. Emmett and Rosalie gave us a weird look, but went anyway.

When they closed the door, Edward and I started cracking up.

"They're going to kill us," I said.

"Who? Esme and Carlisle or Rosalie and Emmett?" Edward asked, as we laughed harder.

"Well, perhaps we should escape while we can," I pointed out.

"Let's go," Edward replied as he started walking toward the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" I asked, grabbing his arm.

"To escape?"

"It'll be easier if we go this way. This is how I escaped from Rosalie earlier."

"Okay, then we'll go this way, but we'd better hurry."

We walked out onto the balcony and jumped over the railing, landing softly on the ground, and walked slowly through the outdoor hallway.

"I'm beginning to think they knew we didn't want to go in there for a reason," I said after a few moments, just before we heard Emmett speak.

"Oh. Sorry guys. We'll be going now." We sensed Emmett and Rosalie quietly enter my room and look around for us.

"Edward, Rachel. You'd better get back here!" Rosalie threatened.

'_Time to go,' _Edward thought as we started running through the marble hallway.

I spotted a door that I couldn't hear anyone in, and slowly opened it. It was empty so Edward and I entered it cautiously.

The room was very large, and held many books.

'_This must be a library,' _I thought.

'_Yeah, look at all these books,' _Edward replied.

'_It's amazing. I think we're going to like this place.' _

We then heard the door open behind us as a tall, willowy man entered.

"Hello, Aro," Edward said with a cheerful smile.

"How are you today?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't mind our being here.

"Fine, thank you," he replied. "I trust you are doing well also?"

"Yes," we answered at the same time.

"So, you have found our little library," Aro said with a grin.

"Little? This place is huge!" Edward said in awe.

"It's amazing!" I added as Aro chuckled.

"I suppose it is rather large, however, we have a larger one as well. If you like, I can show it to you later," he added.

"That'd be wonderful," I said.

"Yes, thank you," Edward added.

"Yes, well, feel free to indulge in the books as you wish," Aro said. "I hope you find something you like."

"Oh, I think I will," I replied. "Thank you," Edward and I said in unison as Aro turned to leave.

"Wow," Edward said as we walked over to one shelf in the library.

"I know this is incredible. I don't know where to begin," I replied.

"They're sorted by the name of the author, so it should be easy to find a certain book. I think I'll start with Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities."

"Alright, I think I'm going to start with Jane Austen's collection," I replied as I gently pulled Emma out of its spot and walked over to one of the black leather couches and sat down.

I immediately became lost in Jane Austen's writing, and finished the book at vampire speed. I went over and selected Sense and Sensibility from the shelf as I put Emma back in its spot.

Once again, I found myself deep in Austen's work and finished the book as soon as I had finished the last. I replaced the book and went over to another section of the library.

I decided to walk over to the Shakespeare area, even though I had already read all of his works, I would read them again.

I sat down on the floor to get a better view of the Shakespeare collection.

There was Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, The Tempest, and so much more.

"Hello again, Rachel," I heard Caius say from behind me. I jumped slightly, since I was unused to being surprised, which made him chuckle softly.

"And how are you, Caius?" I asked with a smile as I turned around, still sitting.

"Very well, thank you. And yourself?" he asked as he leaned casually against the tall bookshelf behind him.

"Excellent," I replied, still smiling as I followed his suit and leaned back. "Are you looking for anything special?"

"Yes, and I have found it," he said with a grin, obviously pleased with his little inside joke.

"And what have you found?" I asked smiling at his happiness.

"That is a secret," he said tenderly as he looked into my eyes.

"Rachel, I think it's time to go back and see if they're still mad… Oh, hello, Caius." Edward said. "This library is magnificent," he added with a smile.

"I am glad you enjoy it," Caius said. "If you like, you can take some books out of the library with you, instead of reading them here," he added.

"Thank you," I replied. "I think I will bring Romeo and Juliet with me."

"A very good choice, indeed," Caius said.

"Right, well, we'll see you later," Edward said as he held his hand out to me.

"Bye, Caius," I said, taking Edward's hand as he helped me up.

"Good bye, Edward, Rachel," he said before turning around and exiting the library. It may have been my imagination, but I could have sworn that when he said my name, he said it with so much tender and care as if it were a very valuable, and very breakable item.

'_Spending quality time with Caius, are we?'_ Edward asked silently with a smirk.

'_As a matter of fact, I didn't get to talk much,'_ I replied with a scowl. _'You so kindly interrupted us when I was about to ask him a question.'_

'_I'm sorry,' _Edward thought sincerely. _'Would you care to repeat your conversation for me?'_

'_Weren't you listening?' _I replied with another scowl.

'_As a matter of fact, I wasn't. I thought you might enjoy some privacy.'_ I frowned but went over the conversation in my head. It was rather short, but it made me smile. Edward seemed amused by our short conversation and smiled with me.

"See, I knew you two would warm up to each other," he said mockingly when he was satisfied. I punched him in the arm and kept walking while he stood there and scowled.

'_We only talked for a few moments,' _I replied solemnly in my head, not caring if he was listening or not.

"Do you hear something?" he asked suddenly when he caught up to me.

"No, am I supposed to?"

"Shh… just listen," he whispered. I closed my mouth and listened carefully.

"L'Aro, che succede a me? Non ho mai sentito questa maniera. Non ho saputo questo sentimento esistito," I heard Caius say in a pleading tone.

"Bene, Caius. Sembrerebbe che lei è nell'amore," Aro answered gently.

"Come on, Edward, let's go," I said as forcefully as I could in a whisper.

"I heard 'amore' in there," Edward replied, matching my whisper. "That means 'love' doesn't it?"

"I don't know, but let's not eavesdrop. It's not polite," I answered while pulling him along with me. "Besides, it's not like we would know what they're saying. Correct me if I'm wrong but neither of us speak Italian."

"All right. We'd better go make sure they're not still mad at us."

"This should be fun," I replied sarcastically.

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**Hope this didn't suck too badly!**

**And just incase I forgot to put up the website I use for translations, it is: **

**Copy and Paste is a lovely tool!**


	11. Resistance is Futile

**LOL... I like this chapter... and just so you all know, I DO NOT OWN ALEJANDRO!! I'm really sorry that I can't ask the person who created Alejandro for their permission to use him and i'm really sorry if the person who made him doesn't like this and overall, i'm just sorry... i started writing this story before i knew i would put it online so please don't beat me senseless in a dark alley... please? I LOVED your story by the way! I can't remember what it was called and what your penname is so i can't find you and ask you... again i'm sorry... please don't be mad at me!**

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As it turned out, Carlisle and Esme weren't mad at us

As it turned out, Carlisle and Esme weren't mad at us. They didn't even know we were the ones who told Rosalie and Emmett to go into their room.

Rosalie and Emmett weren't mad either. They were furious. Edward and I expected them to have some kind of plan to get back at us, but we couldn't hear anything.

"They're doing very well in keeping their thoughts to themselves," Edward noted when we were alone in the library again.

"Indeed, they must have something planned, they just have to," I added with a sigh.

"Well, we'd better be careful," he replied. "We don't know how harsh their punishment will be."

"Should we listen to their thoughts or not?" I asked. "Their thoughts could be misleading, or they could tell us what they're up to." I stared intently at the wooden table we were sitting at as I tried to decide what to do.

"Or, they could be our punishment," Edward suggested solemnly.

"Then we shouldn't listen," I decided.

"No. What if our punishment isn't by their thoughts?" he asked. "We won't be prepared." I slowly exhaled my breath a little more audible than necessary.

"Why can't they just get their revenge over with? Are they even planning revenge? They must be, I mean, it's Rosalie and Emmett."

"I don't know, but we may as well listen to their thoughts, and if there's anything we don't want to hear, we'll stop listening." I exhaled my breath silently as he answered. He was right, although I'd rather not hear what they would think. Knowing Rosalie and Emmett, it would be mainly things that would scar us for eternity.

"Well, I'm going to go back to my room. You?" Edward asked.

"I'm going to stay here," I replied. "I'm gonna look to see what other books they have here." After spending many hours here, I still hadn't looked through all of the shelves.

As he got up to leave, I stood up with him, but headed toward the library shelves instead of the door. I walked to the Shakespeare area again. I'm not sure why, but something about his works has me hypnotized.

"Are you looking for something?" I heard a deep, unknown voice say from behind me.

I turned around to find a tall, Spanish vampire with dark, curly hair, and the normal vampire-beauty. I suddenly found myself nervous; my blood would have been racing if I had any. The man smiled at me, and I suddenly had a strong urge to be closer to him, to hold his icy cold hand, to run my fingers through his hair…

'_Stop!' _I commanded myself, although I found my thoughts cloudy, as if I was intoxicated by this man's presence. _'You don't even know the man! Well, I didn't know Caius either…'_

"Yes," I managed to say. "I found it. I was looking for Shakespeare."

"Really?" he asked somewhat amused. "Which play?"

'_Do not say a romance… say a tragedy or comedy… no romance novels…'_

"Macbeth," I replied. His smile was striking. I found myself trying to pry into his thoughts, desperately wanting to know what he was thinking, only to find they were in Spanish. _'Of all the languages I could have learned, I decided not to learn Italian or Spanish. Stupid Latin, French, and German! Taking forever to learn, even at vampire speed.'_

"Ah," he replied, seeming even more amused. "A bloody play… interesting."

"Indeed," I heard Caius' voice say as he rounded the corner of the bookshelf. His voice helped clear my thoughts immediately. My thoughts were still clouded, but I could think more clearly, which made me feel better. Caius continued, immediately switching to Italian. "L'Alejandro, l'apprezzerei se lei non farebbe che a Rachel." The only things I could pick out were two names: Alejandro and my own.

"And why would I do that?" Alejandro asked in English. Caius let out a low growl along with a death glare while Alejandro smiled smugly.

"And what is it you are doing?" I asked feeling confused.

I immediately felt my thoughts clouding with Alejandro again. His smile. His face. His hair. His body…

'_Stop!'_ I commanded myself again. _'Why do I keep thinking of him?'_

"He is manipulating you, Rachel," Caius answered, although I had a hard time concentrating on the meaning of his words.

"It is not 'manipulation,' Caius. It is an attraction," Alejandro replied in a devious voice.

"Let her go," commanded Caius fiercely, yet so softly, I almost didn't hear it.

"No," Alejandro answered simply as the images in my head grew stronger and started swirling around, making my head even fuzzier than before.

Although my thoughts were blurry, I could still see, so I was just able to make out Caius's well-built form crouch into an attack form. A low growl escaped through his clenched teeth as he threw himself at Alejandro.

I noticed was I quickly regaining my train of thought as Alejandro removed his concentration from keeping me under his spell to fighting Caius. When I had completely retrieved my thoughts, I began to think of ways to tear the two furious vampires from each other. However, I didn't have much time to think because Aro, Marcus, Carlisle, and Kathryn came running around the corner of the bookshelf.

Aro and Marcus immediately ran to the brawling vampires to pull them apart while Carlisle and Kathryn came to me to see if I was all right.

"Rachel, has he released you?" Kathryn asked, sounding worried.

"Yes," I replied. "What did he do?"

"It is his talent," Carlisle answered. "He is able to attract others to him. It not only helps him find decent prey, but helps him find and court women he fancies," he added with a small, apologetic smile.

"Please do forgive us," Kathryn pleaded. "It was rude of him to abuse his power, especially on a friend."

"It wasn't your fault, Kathryn. Why are you apologizing?" I asked with a smile that showed I held no grudge against Kathryn or any of the other Volturi members. Alejandro, however, would have to be more careful, for he just might find himself in a sticky situation.

Kathryn smiled back before turning back to the four struggling vampires. Marcus had managed to throw Alejandro back towards one of the wooden tables that splintered with a loud 'snap' as soon as he hit it. Aro was still struggling with Caius, but was managing to push Caius up to the side of the bookshelf, and within a few moments, had Caius completely pinned.

"Caius!" Aro shouted even though their faces were only a few inches apart. "Fighting in the library! What were you thinking?" He asked, turning to a normal tone. "Alejandro!" Aro yelled as he turned his head to face the Spanish vampire. "What were _you_ thinking?" Aro asked Alejandro, adding emphasis on the word 'you.'

Before either could answer, Aro spoke yet again. "Never mind. I don't want to know. You were trying to attract Rachel weren't you, Alejandro?" He asked angrily, even though he said he didn't want to know. Caius scowled as Alejandro only smiled deceitfully and eyed me up and down. Carlisle seemed to notice Alejandro's wandering eyes and put himself in front of me.

"Leave us, Alejandro," Aro ordered. "I will deal with you later."

"As you wish, Aro," he replied, forcing one more surge of lust through my mind. Marcus had to let go of Alejandro so he could help Aro restrain Caius from attacking Alejandro again. I did my best to keep him out of my thoughts, but the desire was still too strong. I started to walk forward, but luckily Carlisle noticed what I was doing and put his hands securely on my shoulders.

"Let her go," Carlisle commanded as Alejandro gave another smile.

When he still hadn't released me, I concentrated on ignoring his seduction and said slowly: "Let me go."

Alejandro stared at me for a few moments that felt like forever when I was trying to ignore his attraction, and reluctantly let me go.

As Alejandro left, Caius started muttering intensely under his breath in Italian, just loud enough for me to hear as a whisper. Marcus gave a smile and spoke to him in English, "Yes, he is, but watch you language. Rachel doesn't understand Italian, but Kathryn does."

"Sorry," Caius said, giving Kathryn and I an apologetic smile as Aro and Marcus released him from their grip.

"It is alright," Kathryn said. "Cursing in front of me really has no effect since I hear it all the time from your brothers," she added, grinning at a slightly embarrassed Marcus and Aro.

"I don't even know what you said, so no apology is really needed," I added with a smile.

"Right," Carlisle said, ready to change the subject. "Rachel, are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should get some rest."

"Carlisle is right," Aro agreed. "On humans, his attraction is normally fatal, just because they become his prey, but not many vampires have had the… ah, misfortune of falling under his spell. Perhaps some sleep would help."

"I'm fine," I replied, trying to sound convincing, put probably failing. By the thoughts around me, I could tell I was. "I don't need…"

"Rachel," Carlisle interrupted sternly.

"Think of it as doctor's orders," Caius offered with a smile.

I sighed in defeat just before Carlisle called out to Edward in his mind. By Edward's thoughts, he would be here in just a few seconds.

"What? Why'd you call him?" I protested. "I don't need help getting back."

"I don't know, Rachel," Edward said as he came to a halt by my side. "You look rather pale," he teased.

"Idiot," I murmured as my knees started to feel rather weak. _'Maybe I do need some rest.'_

'_Now she gets it,'_ Edward's thoughts replied. He lifted me in his arms as I started fading into unconsciousness.

'_Why am _I_ always the one to fall unconscious?'_

'_Maybe you're just weak,'_ came Edward's smug response just a moment before I was completely submerged in sleep.

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**Again... please don't hurt me!**

**oh and just in case you're wondering... vampires can sleep here... i thought that this was best for some parts of the story... or maybe i just liked the fact that vampires could have dreams or something... oh well :)**


	12. Nightmares

**Sorry for the wait... I went to Florida about 5 days after coming back from Minnesota... it was FUN! Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I'm sorry if you don't understand it... it should make more sense later, just review if you don't know, say you don't know what happened, and I'll reply to it! :D**

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"Stand up, Rachel," my mother, Ruth McCarty, commanded as she prepared to put a small but beautiful necklace around my neck.

I stood up and lifted my hair so it would be easier for my mother to accomplish her task. "There," she said. "Beautiful, just beautiful," my mother said.

I turned around to look in the tall mirror that stood on the floor and gasped. The satin navy blue gown fit perfectly on me. The gown practically floated. It had an empire-waist that tied in the back, yet no puffy sleeves since I wasn't particularly fond of the current fashion.

However the things that caught my attention were my eyes and the tone of my skin. My eyes were a dark brown, yet I could have sworn that I had topaz eyes. My skin was slightly darker too. It wasn't very tan, but it wasn't the chalky white that I had grown accustomed to either.

I glanced out the window next to my mirror and found a Chicago view. This, too, felt different.

"I know," my mother replied to my gasp, obviously thinking I was stunned at my beauty. She put her hands on my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. "And to think we did it all on our own, without the help of maids!"

"Yes," I murmured, still trying to figure out why everything felt unusual. I looked at the reflection of my mother and myself; I realized that it felt as if I hadn't seen my mother in years.

"I really think tonight is the night, Rachel. It has to be! He's been courting you for about a year now and it's obvious he loves you. The way he looks at you, it's like he's longing for you," my mother said excitedly.

My mother's last sentence shocked me. _'Like he's longing for me…'_ There was something ominous about the word longing, but I ignored it, thinking my nerves were getting the better of me.

"Well, we'd better get down there. He could be here any minute!" My mother was always so excited and normally I would sigh, thinking she could get over-excited, but not tonight. Tonight, I was probably more excited that my mother.

"Wait," I said, an idea popping into my mind. "I want to bring something of Emmett's with me," I said in a soft voice. Emmett's death had hit all of us very hard, and the fact that we would never get his body back was even more devastating.

"Of course," my mother replied, wiping a tear from her eye. "Well, maybe you could bring a handkerchief. You could put it in your handbag," she added. I smiled and slowly exited my room and entered the vacant room across from mine.

Emmett's room looked the same, just as it had two years ago when we found out there had been an accident. The bed was made up neatly and everything was put away. I had refused to let mother and father throw anything out. I wanted to keep everything that would remind me of the person closest to me ever since birth.

I walked over to the dresser and sat down on the bed that Emmett hadn't slept in for two years.

The first few months without Emmett were the hardest for me and occasionally I would come into his room and sleep in his bed like I did when I was five and he was ten. I used to be scared of storms, so at night, Emmett was always there to comfort me, and sometimes sing me to sleep.

I opened the top drawer on the right and pulled out a pure white handkerchief that had the initials E.M. I quickly used it to remove a tear from my eye and then hurried out of the room and down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I smiled. Laurent quickly finished speaking to my father and turned to face me, a large grin appeared on his beautiful face. He was wearing a fancy black Palm Beach suit.

He held out his hand to me and I took it gently.

"Have a wonderful night, my dear," my father said as he walked over and kissed my forehead. He walked back over to where my mother was standing and placed her hand in his.

Laurent nodded to both my parents and then we were out of the house, walking towards Laurent's black Lincoln car. He opened the door for me and before he closed it he said with a smile, "I think tonight is going to be a wonderful night."

"I think you're right," I replied with a smile. I could feel my heartbeat increasing, as Laurent's smile grew bigger. There was something peculiar about his smile, almost evil, but I ignored it, thinking my nerves were acting up again.

By the time we were at the restaurant, Laurent and I were deep in conversation. Something about our conversation was familiar, like déjà vu, but I went along with it anyway.

On the way to our table, we accidentally bumped into a tall, handsome young man with reddish-bronze hair, sparkling topaz eyes, and extremely pale skin. He seemed familiar somehow, but I didn't have the chance to talk to him because he walked over to an even taller man.

This man, too, seemed familiar, only he seemed much, much more familiar.

"Emmett?" I whispered as I opened my small handbag and looked at the handkerchief I had taken earlier. The man looked at me with sad eyes, and I realized his eyes were topaz, just like the other man's eyes. It couldn't have been Emmett; Emmett's eyes were blue, not golden. The man also had pale skin just like his friend.

Laurent put his arm around my waist and spoke to me. "I'm sure that he's happy where ever he is." He smiled and my heart felt like it was melting

We were seated and handed our menus quickly and our orders came quickly as well. I ordered a salad, as did Laurent, claiming he wasn't very hungry.

Our dinner went by rather quickly since we didn't have much to eat. Laurent paid for the food and then we were off.

For a moment, I thought that I saw the man who looked like Emmett and the man who had reddish hair standing across the street, but when I looked back, they had vanished. Laurent must have seen them too, because he frowned and immediately secured his arm around my waist and guided me along the street and into his car.

"There is somewhere that I want to show you," he said with a smile as he started driving in the opposite direction of my house.

We drove for a while until we were at the end of the town, right next to an abandoned brick building on a hill that overlooked a small yet lovely lake with trees scattered around it. He helped me out of the car as I gazed at the lovely view.

"It's a beautiful night," I commented as I gazed at the sun, which had almost disappeared from the horizon.

"It is," Laurent agreed. "The colors are beautiful too," he added as we watched the sun set in the west.

Before I had time to protest, he gently pressed me against the back of the brick building so I was trapped between the building and his unnaturally cold body, with his mouth was on mine, kissing me passionately. I kissed him back and we stayed like that for a few moments before he moved his mouth slowly along my cheek and then to my chin. He continued all the way down to the base of my neck where he stopped and rubbed his nose along the middle of my collarbone to the base of my neck where he stopped.

Next I felt his lips part and icy cold teeth touch my skin. He bit down and my breath caught in my throat.

I felt pain. I felt nothing but pain and the coldness of Laurent's body holding me close to him. But even Laurent's body couldn't dull the fiery pain that dwelled in my neck and slowly started spreading.

"I've been waiting a long time for this," he purred in my ear as he pulled back and smashed my skull into the side of the building. He brought me back to look me straight in the eyes. For the first time since I had met him, I saw the evil fire in his eyes that corrupted his beautiful face. The blood started falling into my eyes, turning everything around me a deep crimson.

"Your blood has the most intoxicating smell I've ever encountered. I could have attacked you right then on that night we met at the party, but I restrained myself. I commanded myself to wait and save you for a… special occasion. Well, this is one special occasion… you and your parents believed I was going to propose tonight… you were just a little off the mark," he smirked and lowered his head again to drink the warm blood that was gushing from the bite in my neck.

The sound that came next was so loud that not even the burning of my blood and the pounding in my ears could dull it.

A thunderous roar came and Laurent's body was thrown away from me. I fell to the ground with a thud and the back of my head hit the brick wall for the second time.

Though the blood was obscuring my view, I could just see two men attacking the beast that had just attacked me. One man had reddish-bronze hair and the other was the Emmett look-alike. They wrestled him to the ground, but somehow he seemed to escape. The two men started to go after him, but a moan escaped my lips involuntarily, and they rushed to my side.

"Rachel!" I heard Emmett's voice call out to me from the Emmett look-alike.

"Emmett?" I whispered shakily.

"It's okay, Rachel. Edward and I are going to help you," he told me.

"You'll be alright, Rachel," the man named Edward told me. "I promise it will be over soon."

"Rachel! Rachel! Rachel, wake up! It's just a dream, Rachel," I heard Emmett's voice call, yet it didn't come from either Edward or Emmett. "Rachel, come on," his bodiless voice called again.

I closed my eyes for a moment. When I reopened them, I was ten years into the future, looking up at my brother who was violently shaking me.

"I'm up Emmett," I said, almost shouting. He stopped shaking me and embraced me in a tight hug.

"Everything's alright, Rachel. I won't ever let him hurt you again," Emmett cried as he pulled away from me. He looked very distressed and probably would have been crying if vampires could cry.

"What?" I asked rather confusedly.

"You were talking in your sleep," he explained, hugging me again. "I was watching you to make sure you were alright, and then you started murmuring a few things, and they were all things that happened on your last day of humanity."

"Yeah," I sighed as he pulled away again to look me in the eye. I looked down in sadness and tried to look anywhere but directly at Emmett, but he pulled my face back to look at him.

He pulled me back into a hug for the third time and rested my head on his shoulder before he started singing the song he used to sing to me when I was little to get me to fall asleep during bad weather. I had almost forgotten how amazed I was that he had taken Psalm 13 and added notes to it to make a song.

"How long will you forget me Lord? Forever? How long will you look the other way when I am in need? How long must I be hiding daily anguish in my heart? How long shall my enemy have the upper hand? Answer me, O Lord my God; give me light in my darkness lest I die. Don't let my enemies say, 'We have conquered him!' Don't let them gloat that I am down.

"But I will always trust in you and in your mercy and shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord because he has blessed me so richly," he ended softly.

I sighed again. "Thanks, Em," I said using the nickname I had given him when I was little.

"No problem," he replied as he kissed the top of my head and hugged me tighter.

'_At least now I get to spend the rest of eternity with people that I love,'_ I thought to myself as I hugged him back.

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**Hope you liked it! Reviews make me happy :D**


	13. The Beauty Of Revenge

**Okay, I know that in the last chapter I said that Emmett's room was neat, just as it had been when he died, but when I wrote it, I was thinking that either someone had cleaned it after he died, or that he kept his room clean "back in the day" since he was supposed to be sort of a gentleman (in my mind).**

**Anyway, hope you like this!**

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After I had calmed down a little, we heard a knock at my door

After I had calmed down a little, we heard a knock at my door.

Edward stalked in angrily, dragging a very mad Rosalie. From her thoughts I could tell that she was upset about two things: Edward had caught her and Emmett had failed to do his job.

I looked up at Emmett with a glare and he looked down sheepishly.

"Why did you really come in here, Emmett," I demanded.

"Well…" Emmett started guiltily.

"In his own words, he was about to 'work his revenge' by pouring honey all over your clothes, stealing all of your right shoes, and write obscene messages on the walls of your room in dark red paint that looks like blood," Edward growled as he glared at the scheming couple.

"Wow, guys," I spoke to Rosalie and Emmett. "You two almost outdid yourselves."

"Thank you," Emmett replied, forcing happiness, trying to think of a way to get out of trouble.

"Why don't you tell Rachel what you were going to do, Rosalie?" Edward asked in a furious yet controlled voice.

"Umm, well," Rosalie started, her voice shaking, which was very unlike her since her vanity usually filled her with self-confidence, one of the few byproducts that was a positive thing. Before she could continue, I interrupted.

"If you don't tell me, I do have the power to force you," I smiled deviously. She glared at me before she started again.

"Well, like I was trying to say before I was so rudely interrupted," Rosalie restarted, "I was going to write letters and… and…"

"And?" I prodded. Rosalie's unwillingness to tell me was irritating me.

"And I was going to give them to Caius and Heidi," Rosalie finished rather lamely.

"Wow, Rose. Great story," I said sarcastically.

"Anything else you want to add?" Edward asked? Rosalie just smiled to herself and shook her head in a childish manner. Something was very wrong with Rosalie. "She's acting weird because what she had planned made her very giddy. Now, Rosalie, you can admit the rest on your own, or we can have Rachel help you admit it," Edward told her threateningly as I gave her a cold look that showed Rosalie that Edward was serious. I really would 'help' her.

"Um, well," Rosalie started again. This was the first time I had actually ever seen Rosalie scared. She was scared of what my reaction would be since she had already seen how furious Edward's had been. "Well, um, they were love letters," Rosalie finished in an almost questioning manner.

"Excuse me?" I asked in a very flat tone as Emmett's booming laughter filled the room.

"It was my idea!" he exclaimed with a giggle.

'_I'm going to tear you two to pieces and BURN THE PIECES!'_

"Exactly my thinking," Edward replied aloud to my thoughts. "Although I'd prefer that they didn't die, seeing as how Carlisle and Esme would just do the same to us." I sighed. He was right. Plus, although I hated to admit it, I would miss Emmett and Rosalie.

"We'll I'm not going to do anything to you two," I sighed again.

"What?" My three siblings asked in unison. Rosalie and Emmett looked surprised and Edward just seemed hurt that I wouldn't join him in torturing Emmett and Rosalie.

"Well," I started to explain, "it's never going to end, is it? Plus if I get revenge on you again, I'll have no one to help my plot against Alejandro," I added with a grin.

"Really?" Emmett asked, seeming overly happy.

"We can help?" Rosalie added her own question before I could answer Emmett's.

"Well, yeah," I said, "it's no fun getting revenge on your own."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's start plotting!" Emmett exclaimed as he led the rest of us out of my room and towards the library.

'_YES! Now I don't have to think of something… I don't care what my parents always taught me… using people is fun!'_

'_You're trying to use me?' _Edward asked silently, trying to sound hurt.

'_Maybe. I really don't want to get revenge, but this might be fun and it took us away from the topic of their revenge on us,'_ I replied. _'Wow… Rosalie and Emmett really are stupid… they never really did get their revenge… you caught them before they could do anything.'_

'_And therein lies the true beauty of Emmett and Rosalie,'_ Edward replied. He almost failed to contain his laughter, but he ended up smothering the giggles before Emmett and Rosalie realized he was laughing.

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**REVIEW PLEASE!! and tell me what kinds of revenge you would like to see! I am in desperate need of ideas because this is one of the last chapters i have pre-written... now it may take longer for me to upload, but I am going to work my butt off writing!**


	14. Revenge Is A Dish Best Served Cold

**Hey guys! I'm soooo sorry that this chapter is kinda short... I promised cathryn2008 that I would get another chapter up and I didn't realize that I had ran out of prewritten chapters! So this is the best I've been able to get out so far, but I promise to make the next chapter as good as I possibly can!**

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It turned out that planning revenge on Alejandro with Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie was fun

It turned out that planning revenge on Alejandro with Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie was fun. Rosalie was bent on revenge and would stop at nothing to get it; Emmett had a bunch of crazy ideas; and Edward had the brains to make Emmett's ideas work.

We decided to work on our plans in the library Edward and I were so fond of because of its quietness and because there was a large wooden table that was secluded from the rest of the library, hidden behind a couple of large bookshelves that almost reached the ceiling. Plus it made my drive for revenge even stronger since this was the library where Alejandro 'mentally attacked' me.

"I think that we should light a match, stick it down his pants, and hope it burns him to ashes!" Emmett said, breaking the blanket of silence that had surrounded us for the past three minutes.

"Yeah… Emmett, if I really wanted to look down his pants, I would have given in to his seduction," I replied uninterestedly. It wasn't that I was tired, but I had just about had enough of this revenge planning. Getting revenge and playing pranks just weren't things I did in my spare time.

For what seemed like the billionth time in the past two hours, I lifted my head a little and looked around as much as I could with the bookshelf in my way. I wasn't exactly happy to admit it, but I was hoping Caius would show up like he has every time I'm in the library.

When I finally stopped searching I noticed my siblings all had knowing grins on their faces. I let a faint growl escape my lips as I stared down at the thick oak table. This made Rosalie and Emmett look smug while Edward's knowing smile turned into an apologetic one.

'_We're not being fair to you, Rachel,'_ Edward thought. _'I'm sorry. But I have to admit you two are a great source of entertainment. It is rather fun to watch.'_

"I've got it!" Emmett said, almost shouting.

"Keep it down," Rosalie hissed. "We're in a library!"

"Considering the fact that there are only vampires in here," Edward started, "I don't think shouting will really bother anyone since whispering would be just like talking normally."

"Just tell us what you've got, Emmett," I said at normal volume.

"Okay," Emmett said, sounding pleased with himself. "We could put ice cream in his room and all over his clothes and when he comes back it will be all melted and sticky. And we'll put a bucket of ice cream above his doorway so when he comes in, it will fall on his head!"

"It sounds stupid, yet funny," I responded thoughtfully.

"And it couldn't get us into any major trouble," Edward agreed.

"I still think there should be something else," Rosalie added.

"Well we'll get to that later," I replied. "Right now, I'm tired of thinking of revenge. Let's go do something else."

"Aww, but I still want to plot!" Emmett complained.

"Whatever. If you all still want to plot revenge then I'll just find a book while you guys think," I replied as I got up from the table.

"Get me one too, please!" Edward called after me.

I turned around the corner of the bookshelf and headed to the other side of the library. I decided I would pick some of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes novels for Edward and I. I knew Edward didn't enjoy mysteries as much as I did, but I wasn't in the mood to look for anything else.

As I walked to the bookshelf that held the books I wanted I thought heard something following me and turned around sharply to see if my infallible heard was wrong. Oddly enough, it was.

I turned again, feeling rather stunned, to resume my walk to the bookshelf but was immediately met by a tall figure directly in front of me.

"Hello, again, Rachel," Caius said with a smile. "I wish to apologize for my previous actions. I was… irritated with Alejandro for his… ungentlemanly dealings toward you." Caius seemed to have trouble finding the correct words to use. "I do hope you do not think ill of me for taking such imprudent actions."

"Of course I do not think ill of you, Caius. Actually, I should be thanking you for intervening," I replied with a smile of my own.

Caius seemed more relaxed, now that he knew I wasn't upset with him, although how could I be? "So other than to find a book to read, why else have you and your family come to the library?"

"We're planning revenge on Alejandro," I replied with a devious grin. "Want to help?"

"How can I be of assistance?" Caius obviously enjoyed the idea of getting revenge on Alejandro and his smile grew even larger.

Forgetting about the books I was supposed to be getting, I lead Caius over to where my family was situated. I explained that Caius was willing to help and we decided to go and get the ice cream later today since it looked like it would be a cloudy day.

"Hey, Rach," Edward said after we had finished explaining and planning. "Weren't you supposed to get a book?"

"Oh… yeah… I'll be right back," I replied quickly before running at vampire speed to get two books, not without giving Edward a glare.

'_Damn you, Edward… Oh wait… Too late!'_

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**Oh, and I want to thank cathryn2008 for the ideas (it was in a PM so none of you can see it... I think) and imadoodlenoodle for the awesomely long and cool PM!**

**And of course, I can't forget all the good people who review my story! Love you all like family!**


	15. Backfire

**YAY!! I did all of this chapter today! I know that probably doesn't sound like much but this is a big deal for me because I kept thinking I would NEVER finished this chapter because I kept getting stuck! Again, Thank you cathryn2008 for the idea!**

**Oh, and I realized that the ending of the last chapter may have been a little confusing because I realized that I had wanted to write more, but anyway, Rachel was annoyed at Edward for pointing out that she forget the books because Caius showed up so she glared at him. And the whole "Damn you, Edward... Oh wait... Too late." was in refrence to the fact that Edward is always talking about how vampires are dammed and what not. :D**

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After buying ten gallons of various ice cream flavors- Emmett figured that some ice creams might be stickier than others, ther

After buying ten gallons of various ice cream flavors- Emmett figured that some ice creams might be stickier than others, therefore making it even worse- Caius led us to where Alejandro's room was located and we got to work. At the moment it was just Rosalie and I, each taking a paintbrush and painting everything in sight, excluding each other after Rosalie had made a huge fuss over getting a small drop of vanilla ice cream on her shoes, with the rest of the ice cream that had melted.

"I'm going to find the guys and tell them we're almost done," Rosalie said after she had finished painting Alejandro's desk with mint chocolate chip ice cream.

"Alright," I replied setting my paintbrush in the bucket of melted chocolate ice cream. "I'll make sure we got everything and you all can double check it," I added as Rosalie walked out of the room and ran down the hall at vampire speed to find the boys.

I walked to the middle of the room to review our hard work and was very pleased. We had made quite a mess, and I must admit, it was entertaining. I'll have to remember to use ice cream if I ever want to prank or get revenge on someone again.

Alejandro's room didn't have a bed, which surprised me and disappointed Emmett. I was surprised because I would have figured that a pervert like Alejandro would keep something like a bed in his room for 'special occasions' and whatnot. Emmett was disappointed because he thought that we could drench the covers with ice creams and smear it all over the pillows.

Finished overlooking the room, I started to get the buckets of ice cream together so we wouldn't have to spend any more time in Alejandro's room than necessary. As I finished getting all of the buckets together I heard the doorframe creak and I snapped around to see who was watching me.

"We meet again, my dear," Alejandro said with a smirk as he stepped closer.

"Back off, Alejandro," I growled. "Caius won't have a problem fighting you again. In fact, I think Emmett and Edward will lend him a hand if Caius gives them the chance."

"Since when did you and Caius get together?" Alejandro asked with a frown.

"We aren't," I replied quickly. I was extremely glad I didn't have any blood to fill my face.

"Well then I won't feel bad about this," he smirked as he sent out his 'attraction' waves. This time they felt stronger, more forceful. I found it was very hard to resist this time.

"Stop," I said, although it sounded rather weak when it escaped my lips.

"Don't worry," he replied as he filled the space between us. "You'll get used to it. You may even find you enjoy it," he added as his hands came up to cup my face.

The next thing I was aware of was Alejandro's mouth crashing passionately on mine and, unfortunately, I was following his suit.

Against my will, my hand felt its way up his side, over his shoulders, behind his neck, and finally winding itself in his dark hair. My other arm found its way around his neck and pulled Alejandro closer to me.

My thoughts were clouding and I could barely think. His lips had parted and his tongue was slowly creeping its way toward my lips, ready to enter. Unluckily for me, my mouth opened obediently and out tongues collided.

Slowly Alejandro's hand slid down my side as he forcefully backed us up so I was trapped between Alejandro and the wall. His hand made it's way down to my leg, which he lifted suddenly and wrapped around his waist. If there was any space left between us at all, Alejandro closed it as his other arm went around my waist and pulled me even closer so that all that was left between us were, thankfully, clothes.

Just faintly I could hear a man's voice shout my name, but I couldn't tell who it was. All I could think about was the man in front of me and his lips.

Within the next second, two things happened. Alejandro was suddenly thrown across the room and I slumped to the floor with a confused smile on my face.

"Rachel?" Rosalie whispered in my ear. "Rachel, can you hear me?"

"Rose? What happened?" I asked, still dazed. "Wait," I said snapping out of my daze. "I don't want to hear it." I glumly looked down at my hands, not wanting to meet Rosalie's eyes.

"Snap out of it, Rachel. It was his fault," Rosalie said, trying yet failing, to cheer me up.

"But I gave in!" I protested as I lifted my head with sad eyes.

"Well," Rosalie started. "Why don't we watch the boys attempt to beat up a vampire? That should be fun!"

"Sure. Whatever."

Regrettably, even watching Alejandro take a beating couldn't cheer me up. I would have thought that I would be happier watching Caius fight Alejandro because I would think that maybe, just maybe, he was fighting for me.

Then, for a moment, it seemed as if I had heard some of Caius's thoughts. I couldn't tell what he was thinking since his thoughts were in Italian, but I heard them. He sounded angry, although I couldn't blame him, and his thoughts were probably just a stream of profanities at the moment.

This surprised me and I worked on getting Edward's attention to show him my recent discovery. Unfortunately, he was too busy helping fight Alejandro to notice my prodding into his mind, and I didn't want to make him miss out on all the fun.

"BOYS!" Aro, Marcus, and Carlisle shouted in unison as the four male vampires all turned their heads in harmony. Caius had his left hand clenched in a fist, holding tightly to Alejandro's shirt and his right hand in the air, ready to punch down on Alejandro's nose. Emmett had somehow gotten a hold of Alejandro's left hand and was holding it away from Alejandro's body so it wouldn't reinsert itself onto his arm and was looking for somewhere to burn it. Edward was crouched on the floor behind Alejandro and was ready to pounce.

"Emmett, what the hell are you doing with his hand?" Carlisle asked, trying to sound calm, yet I could tell he was far from it… Carlisle rarely ever cursed.

"Caius! I thought I told you that you were not allowed to fight Alejandro again unless it was important!" Aro shrieked.

"Edward! If you are going to fight someone, try punching him in the gut, not pouncing on him! Where will that get you?" Marcus asked as Edward stood up and straightened his shirt that had become ruffled from fighting.

"Marcus!" Aro and Carlisle shouted simultaneously.

'_They're getting good at speaking in unison,'_ I noticed.

'_Yes… I wonder, are we getting in trouble _that_ much?'_ Edward smirked inwardly.

"I was just saying…" Marcus trailed off.

Carlisle sighed. "Emmett, please give Alejandro his hand back."

You would think that since Emmett was in trouble, he would try to behave, but then again, we were talking about Emmett. So instead of just handing back the severed hand, Emmett threw the hand in Alejandro's face and gave off a booming laugh when it make a loud 'smack' and hit the floor. I have to admit that it _was_ rather funny.

"Caius, release him," Aro ordered sternly.

Although reluctant, Caius gave Alejandro a long glare but finally release Alejandro, as ordered. When he was free, Alejandro bent down to pick up his hand and allowed it to fasten itself back onto his arm.

"Now, tell us what is going on. Calmly," Marcus added.

"That asshole tried to eat my face!" I shouted before anyone had the chance to say anything.

"You seemed to enjoy it," Alejandro retorted, earning him a punch in the jaw from Caius.

"Caius, that is quite enough," Aro said idly.

"Why don't you come over here so you aren't tempted to hit him again?" Carlisle suggested. With another glare in Alejandro's direction, Caius walked over to stand between where Carlisle was standing and where Rosalie and I were situated on the floor.

"So, in other words," Marcus said, trying to get back on topic, "Alejandro used his manipulation on Rachel again and the boys got angry."

"Damn right we got angry!" Emmett shouted.

"You didn't have to get angry about it," Alejandro replied calmly. "She liked it enough." This set me off and before Rosalie had time to keep me from attacking, I got up and ran, my fist out in front of me, until my hand collided with Alejandro's nose. Alejandro flinched, although I suppose that being a vampire stopped him from feeling too much pain. "I did NOT enjoy it and I do NOT enjoy you taking advantage of your talent!"

"Defensive," Alejandro grinned. "That's s--" Alejandro was unable to finish his sentence due to the fact that my knee had just made contact with an area I never wanted to touch. I suppose that being a vampire doesn't stop _all_ of the pain one feels when hit by another vampire.

Alejandro let out a yelp before falling to the ground, writing in pain. Rosalie, Emmett, Edward, Caius, and Marcus all let out booming laughter as I smiled in triumph and I could tell that Aro and Carlisle were both having trouble containing their laughs.

"Rachel, why don't you stay back here too?" Carlisle suggested after smoothing a giggle. Carlisle had to come over and grab my arm to move me over to where Caius stood, attempting to stop his laughing.

"All right, stand up," Aro said as he helped Alejandro back to his feet. "You all are acting like children," he muttered.

"I am not a child," Edward, Rosalie, Caius, and Alejandro all shouted in unison as Emmett and I started laughing. Everyone looked at Emmett and I.

"We're not even going to pretend that we don't act like children," I managed to say through my fits of laughter.

Emmett boomed even harder after thinking things over for a minute. "So does that mean that Alejandro is some kind of twisted pedophile?" Carlisle rolled his eyes at Emmett's comment.

"Blame our father," I told Carlisle. "The gangster thing wasn't exactly the best way for Emmett and I to grow up."

"I can see that we are not going to get anywhere soon if this keeps up, so Alejandro, I will deal with you later. Stay here," Aro commanded in a strong tone that told us there'd be trouble if Alejandro didn't cooperate. "The rest of us will leave," he added in a more light tone.

"I'll see you again, Rachel. Soon I hope," Alejandro said as we started to walk out the door. Caius instinctively wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him.

"You would do well to stay away from her," Caius hissed dangerously. I gently placed my hand on the hand that was resting on my hip to stop him from going back and attacking Alejandro again. This seemed to catch his attention and he glanced down at me with a look of shock and tenderness, but my gaze was fixed upon Alejandro in a glare that dared him to mess with me again and see what happens.

As we walked out of the door and into the hallway, I started to feel weak, just as I had the last time I was put under Alejandro's spell. I brought the hand that wasn't resting on Caius's hand to my head in an attempt to massage my temples, an old habit I had when I was a human.

Caius seemed to notice this and was about to say something when my step faltered and he caught me instead.

'_Seriously, what is it with me and fainting?'_ I asked Edward.

'_I really don't know, but you're starting to worry me,'_ he replied.

'_Why do I always have to be the stupid damsel in distress? Who even thought of that kind of stuff anyway?'_

I tried to walk again, but Caius had another idea in mind and lifted me up bridal style so I wouldn't have to risk tripping again. I hadn't realized how tired I was and laid my head on his shoulder before, once again, falling into the deep abyss that was sleep.

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I found it kind of hard to write the kiss scene thing because I normally don't write that kind of stuff, so I hope it didn't suck...**

**Anyway, I enjoyed writing this chapter... that is, when I wasn't stuck thinking of how I was going to get this chapter to move a long and make it sound some what good at the same time!**


	16. TwentyEight Seconds

**I hope you all like this chapter... it took me a while to write... Thanks again cathryn2008! Total lifesaver with the ideas! You deserve a medal or something!**

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Awakening from my slumber was easier this time than it was before. No haunting nightmares of my past to mentally paralyze me. In fact, I didn't have any dreams at all. Just a quiet, peaceful nap.

Although I knew I was awake, I didn't open my eyes. As a human, I always enjoyed staying away from the real world for as long as possible. Being a vampire, I didn't get to sleep as much, but I still enjoyed my own little world of dreams, my escape from the real world. When I was human, I had wanted to escape the horrible depression we faced, even though I was saved from the nastiest of it due to my father's high status, I still saw pictures of those who weren't so lucky. A few years ago, when I wasn't quite used to being a vampire and the war was still raging, I had wanted to escape from the cruel idea of humans fighting humans, the bloodshed of innocent humans that my family tried to prevent ourselves from causing, and the fact that if the United States hadn't entered the war, we would most likely still be in the depression.

Now however, I didn't know what I wanted to escape. As far as I knew, I wasn't unhappy with anything. Perhaps I just enjoyed the idea of sleeping.

I wasn't able to expand on my idea any further since my ears picked up the sound of feet walking across my room. The quiet shuffling of feet, however, were walking away from where I lay, toward the door.

'_Edward?'_ My mind called. I didn't get an actual answer, but I sensed that he was smiling as he opened the door and exited.

I slowly exhaled in a sigh, not expecting anyone to be so near that they would be able to hear it.

"You're awake." It wasn't a question, but a statement. Slowly, a cold hand came and gently lifted my own hand, tenderly holding it.

"Yeah," I replied as I slowly opened my eyes. The room was dark, but I could still see, due to the fact that I was a vampire. It must be nighttime and there must be curtains pulled across my window- tonight was supposed to be a full moon.

Caius and I were silent for a few minutes before he suddenly filled it with a question. "Would you like to take a walk?" He almost sounded nervous.

"Sure," I replied with a smile. "Just give me a minute," I added as he replied with a nod and walked out the door.

With vampire speed, I quickly changed my clothes and ran a comb through my hair, surprised that it wasn't horribly messed up. Maybe I don't toss and turn in my sleep like I did when I was human.

When I was quite satisfied with my appearance, I exited my room where Caius stood waiting outside the door.

"If I counted right, that was only thirty seconds," Caius smirked.

"You counted?"

"I did."

I gave him a look that said 'I can't believe you actually counted' and we started walking down the hallway. "And you were wrong by the way," I said turning my head up to face Caius, who had one eyebrow up in skepticism. "It was twenty-eight seconds," I corrected with a smirk as he gave a light chuckle.

We walked through the labyrinth of hallways until we finally reached cold, fresh air. Even though vampires don't need oxygen, fresh air still feels wonderful, although it had a faint trace of the smell of the humans who lived somewhat near the area. I inhaled the sweet aroma of red roses that were planted in neat locations around the area. I think Esme would enjoy a garden like the ones the Volturi had.

However the red roses stunned me. How did they keep them alive? It was wintertime. I made a mental note to ask later and for now just enjoyed the beauty of the speckles of white on the lovely red.

Caius gently took my hand and led me toward a small pathway that was obviously designed for a maximum of two people to walk down. As we walked down the pathway we chatted idly for a few minutes but then it was mainly silent.

Normally I enjoyed silence, it gave me a chance to think about things. This was the second time in my life I actually hated the silence. The first time had been when I was transforming from human to vampire. Emmett hadn't been able to stay in the room, unable to watch me suffer so much pain. Carlisle had asked the rest of my family to keep Emmett's thoughts off of me and to keep him busy. They ended up having to take him on a hunting trip to keep him out of the house, and therefore, away from my screams of pain.

All of that was told to me after I was released from the venom's pain. The only things I remember about the transformation were the agonizing and my begging Carlisle to say something whenever I had just enough strength to utter a few words.

I was dragged from my thoughts as I felt Caius's hand tugging lightly on mine, leading me onto a connecting path. This path also had red roses and many other flowers that, in my opinion, shouldn't be so vibrant in color during the winter.

"How can these flowers still be alive in the winter?" I asked, desperate for something to fill the silence.

"I wish I knew," Caius answered with a smile. "Heidi and Kathryn won't tell us."

"They're so beautiful," I said as I absent-mindedly stroked a petal of a white rose.

"Non bello come lei, Rachel," Caius said in what was most certainly, even if not intentionally, a seductive voice. I rolled my eyes at his use of Italian, even though I couldn't be completely annoyed with him. "I've upset you haven't I?" Caius asked, suddenly distressed. Maybe he really did care for me...

"Are you _ever_ going to tell me what that means?" I asked pleadingly. I hated not knowing things.

Caius sighed and then looked down, seemingly embarrassed. "Please?" I asked again, this time it was more of a whisper.

"It means 'not as beautiful as you.' And it is very true," he replied turning back to face me.

I smiled; glad blood could not rush up to my face. "Thank you," I said, not trusting myself to say anything more. He smirked at my expression. I must have had a look of pure bliss on my face or something embarrassing.

I was so lost in his beautiful eyes, which were now obsidian since the Volturi hasn't had any humans over yet- I was beginning to worry that this would be a problem- that I didn't pay attention to where I was walking. I must have hit a rock or something because I began to fall- a very un-Rachel thing for me to do.

Luckily Caius caught me just in time, smirking again.

"Thanks," I said, feeling very embarrassed.

"You're welcome," he answered as he put me back on my feet, although still holding my hand.

We continued walking as if nothing had happened and soon we arrived at the end of the path, in front of us, a small pond.

The scene looked like something from a dream. There was a small bench sitting in front of the pond that was just big enough for two people- I must admit that I was starting to think that this path was made especially for couples and lovers- which had a lovely view of the pond and what lay beyond. The pond had lily pads with white flowers floating on the surface, bobbing slightly from the little waves of water. Even though it was snowing lightly, the sky was mainly clear which allowed the stars and the moon to shine through and reflect on the surface of the pond.

"Wow," was all I could manage to say.

"I'm glad you like it," Caius replied. "I've come down this way a few times but it always angered me a little.

"Why did it make you angry?" I asked. I don't understand how something this beautiful could make someone angry.

"Because I never had anyone to come down here with," he replied with a shy smile. Before I could answer Caius spoke again. "I'm sorry if I sound like I'm being intrusive, but I am far too curious for my own good. Would you mind telling me who Laurent is?" He said it all too fast, but eventually I caught up and sighed.

"I supposed I probably should talk about. It's been, about ten years and I still haven't really talked about it with my family… they kind of already knew what happened so they didn't ask."

We walked over to the bench and sat down as I figured out the best way to tell the story.

"When I was still a human and just a few years after I thought I had lost Emmett due to a 'hunting accident' that occurred when he was on a hunting trip in Tennessee, I met a nice young man named Laurent. He had class, charm, good looks, but I didn't know his red eyes meant that he was a vampire. So, naturally, I didn't mind spending time alone with him, going on dates with him. I was so depressed when I thought Emmett had died, and he was the only one who could cheer me up.

"One night, he took me to a very fancy restaurant. I was so excited; our relationship just kept growing stronger and stronger. At the time, I hadn't noticed he hadn't eaten much and that his eyes were black with thirst, and when we, well, when _I_ had finished dinner, he said he wanted to show me something. We ended up watching the sunset on a hill next to an abandoned, old brick building.

"He, well, long story short, he attacked me, and if Emmett hadn't noticed I was around a vampire, and hadn't had the rest of the family help keep tabs on me, I would have been a little snack for Laurent," I finished rather lamely. I never was very good at ending stories.

"Did he get away?" Caius asked softly.

"I think so. Emmett and Edward were the ones who saved me, and I think they both came back with me, so he must have gotten away," I replied solemnly.

"If I ever find him, I will destroy him," Caius said protectively.

"Well, at least now I know that Emmett was saved from the bear attack, and I now have a family who cares for me," I replied happily. "And I got to come here," I said softly with a with a smile

"Yes," Caius said passionately, which made me look straight into his eyes. "At least you were able to come here." My smile grew. I knew he meant not only Italy, but to this little area where we were able to sit and be alone.

Slowly Caius leaned closer to me as I scooted closer to him and lightly our lips touched. His hand came up behind my neck and cradled my head as I moved my hands around his shoulders.

The scene started to remind me of what had just recently happened with Alejandro only less violent and this time I had a choice. But I decided I didn't want to talk about the vampire who molested me earlier and went back to thinking about Caius.

Our kiss deepened and soon Caius had lifted me onto his lap.

I hadn't realized that I had woken up so late, or so early in the morning I guess since if had felt as if I hadn't spent that much time with Caius, but I could tell that the sun would be up soon, and apparently so had Caius.

"We should go," he said sadly as he stroked my check with his thumb.

"Yeah. I suppose that everyone will be wondering where we went anyway. And now I'm going to have to face Rosalie." I said Rosalie's name with much fear in my voice and Caius chuckled. "So what was she trying to make you admit that one night?"

"She wanted me to admit that I liked you," I murmured, unable to meet his eyes. This seemed to amuse him even more and he laughed as he lifted me into the air and then gently set me down on my feet.

The way back wasn't as quiet as before and soon we were back to the hallway where my room was located.

"I think I'll leave you to face your family on your own," Caius said as he kissed my hand and turned to leave. "I'll see you soon," he promised.

"I hope so," I replied as I opened my door and walked in.

I have no idea what made me count the seconds since Caius released my hand, but I did.

The door opened hastily behind me and I turned expecting to face Rosalie and the rest of my family, but instead I was met with a quick but passionate kiss from Caius.

"Please forgive those thirty seconds in which I forgot to give you a goodbye kiss," he apologized sweetly.

"You're forgiven, but only because it was twenty-eight seconds, not thirty," I smiled and gave him a quick kiss before he turned to leave again.

'_All right Carlisle, as promised, you're the first person I'm going to tell,'_ I thought to Carlisle.

'_Huh?'_ Came his confused response.

'_Well I promised you that you'd be the first to know if I ever liked a boy didn't I?'_

'_HA!' _Came Edward's thoughts. _'I knew it!'_

'_Well, okay Carlisle, maybe you are second… Edward seems to enjoy listening to other people's thoughts.' _I amended. I could hear Carlisle chuckle from his room a few doors down from mine and I could tell that Edward had a pleased smile on his face.

Unfortunately that meant that everyone would be coming in my room in just a few seconds since Carlisle would tell Esme to come in here and Edward would tell Emmett and Rosalie.

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**Sorry about the sucky ending to this chapter... I didn't know how to end it so yeah... but this isn't the end of the story! I'll try to write more soon!**


	17. Sunrise

**Eh... I'm not too sure about how happy I am with this chapter... Lemme know what you think. :D**

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Without having time to think about how I was going to admit that I had, in fact, fallen in love, Emmett kicked open my door without breaking it- how he managed this self-control, I have no idea, lifted me into the air over his head, and threw me head first into the headboard of the bed in my room. I heard a loud 'crack' and prayed that my impact with the bed hadn't broken anything on the bed.

'_Too bad that didn't kill me,'_ I thought to myself. As the rest of my family talked among themselves I did my best to convince myself that it was a good thing being thrown headfirst into a headboard and not dying was a good thing. One of the few things that I was able to use to actually convince myself was Caius and the fact that I had won an imaginary battle for his love.

"Emmett, calm down," Esme pleaded. "I want to hear what she has to tell us."

"Yeah, Emmett," Rosalie smiled. "If you hurt her, then we're going to have to threaten the answer out of Edward or Carlisle.

"You mean Edward and Carlisle didn't tell you?" I asked as I attempted, yet failed, to get out of the position I was now in: upside-down so I was slumped on my shoulders; neck hidden by my slouched over form with my head sticking out awkwardly; back curved so that if I was standing, I would look like a hunch-back; and my legs hanging limply above my head.

"Of course not," Carlisle answered with a laugh at my apparently 'silly, helpless arrangement' as Edward prepared to add to Carlisle's answer.

"Besides, we wouldn't want to miss Emmett's reaction now would we?" Edward added, joining Carlisle in laughter.

"Thanks," I replied sarcastically as I wiggled my feet in attempt to form a proper stance. I was exceedingly glad that I wasn't wearing a skirt.

"Come on, Rachel," Emmett pleaded as he bounced around the room. "You know I hate secrets."

"Well, it's not my fault _someone _threw me into the bed." I managed to kick my legs up so they hit the wall and were straight up and rolled to the side so I fell with a 'thump' off my bed and onto the floor.

"Oh, no," Emmett exclaimed. "Rachel, are you pregnant?" At this question, no matter how much he meant it to be a joke, Rosalie punched him in the arm with a scowl.

I sighed. "Considering I am a vampire and that I'm still virgin, I'm going to have to say no, Emmett. Now if you all will be quiet and let me talk, maybe I would tell you."

"Rachel!" Esme shrieked excitedly. "You finally found a man! You fell in love!"

"I KNEW IT!" Emmett and Rosalie bellowed in unison.

I sighed again. "Well… yeah… cat's out of the bag now."

As my three excited siblings did a victory dance around my room and Esme and Carlisle just grinned at me in happiness, I walked over to the large window-wall. The sun was low in the sky but it was rising fast. It reminded me of the time Caius and I had sat in the courtyard that was now in view and just talked. It made me sad, how fast time was passing, but I took solace in the fact that vampire lived forever and there were a vast amount of moments to share with him.

Esme must have joined my siblings in celebrating, although I wouldn't say that that would have been very Esme-like, because I found Carlisle standing next to me, staring at the rising sun with me.

"Beautiful, isn't it? The sunrise," Carlisle said after a few moments of gazing into the distance. "Right now, the point in your life that you're at, it's a sunrise, the beginning of a new day.

"When you were betrayed and bitten by Laurent, it was sunset. From then until now, it's been just like night for you. You weren't really sure what to do with yourself. Although you may not have shown it, your life, or I guess existence, was dark.

"Watching you interact with Caius, it was like seeing the first light of dawn. It was dark at first, but then it grew and now I can see the brightness in you."

When I nodded and didn't reply, Carlisle took that as a sign I wouldn't attack him for talking about my new found love life, which, due to the reactions of my family, was somewhat of a sensitive topic for me. I didn't enjoy talking about things that my family made such a huge deal about. I was going through an emotional change and when that kind of thing happens, I don't enjoy being around those with loud, happy emotions** (if I go on and write short sequels to this story, this will be why Jasper and Rachel become fast friends)**.

"You seem sad," Carlisle continued, pulling me from my thoughts.

I glanced over my shoulder and nodded in the rest of our family's direction before returning to the sun. "I prefer subtlety rather than _that_."

"A similarity between you and Caius," he chuckled. Out of all my family members, Carlisle's reaction to my news was my favorite. He knew I preferred silence to think about what has happened and did his best to mold his happiness into a reaction he knew wouldn't upset me. "I don't know if you've noticed them yet, but the two of you have many similarities."

I noticed them. Even if I couldn't point out exactly what we had in common, I could just tell that we were similar.

"I'm glad you two found each other," Carlisle went on with a smile.

I turned sharply on him. "You knew we would come together." A statement. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would have dismissed all possibility of it and then you would have made sure it would never happen," he laughed at my hostility. "I know you, Rachel. And I know Caius, too. I told Aro when we had a moment alone and he also figured it would be best neither of you knew."

"When did you realize we would fall in love? How?"

"To answer your first question, I knew you would when you had such a strange reaction to the picture in my study.

"Your second question I don't think I can answer so easily. I know how, of course, but it's just hard to explain."

I nodded; remembering how confusing it had sounded even when the basics were laid out in his mind a few weeks ago-- had it really been that long? It didn't feel like it had been that long-- when he announced that we would take a trip to Italy.

"So what now?" Carlisle asked when it was apparent I wasn't planning on saying anything else.

"I don't know," I replied with another sigh. If I didn't know myself better and I didn't know that even in some of the most emotional moments of my life, I felt apathetic, I would have wondered who's funeral we were going to. "How come Edward and I can't hear Caius' thoughts?" I have no idea where the question came from, but since I was curious, I felt it couldn't hurt to ask. Plus it made Carlisle happy to see that I too deep in my thoughts to avoid conversation. Everyone who knows me knows not to let my thoughts wander too far.

"Well, from what I remember, Aro said that when he was still human, he was very sneaky, which would lead to his being able to get around, his footsteps unheard by even vampires, and he was also very secretive, therefore you and Edward cannot 'hear' him."

"But I can hear him occasionally, like when he was fighting Alejandro and I think I may have heard him while we were… on a walk." The way I worded where Caius and I were make Carlisle laugh again.

"Well it was probably because he didn't want to hide anything," Carlisle smirked.

"I'm going to ignore your thoughts on that one," I frowned.

"Well, he obviously didn't want to hide his hatred for Alejandro and I can guess what happened earlier and I'm guessing he didn't want to hide any feelings for you then." This earned Carlisle a playful punch in the shoulder as I smiled and returned to staring out the window.

'_He is right, you know,'_ Edward thought.

'_Yes, Edward,'_ I replied dejectedly.

'_Why do you sound so sad? All I said was that Carlisle was right.'_

'_Because I had to admit that you were right about Carlisle being right,'_ I sighed inwardly.

'_Is it so hard to believe that I was right about Carlisle being right?' _I chose to ignore this question.

"Are you all done yet?" I asked the four of my family members who were dancing around in a circle. I still couldn't understand why they were so excited. Had I really seemed that hopeless?

"I suppose," Esme sighed in defeat as her prance immediately halted.

"No way!" Emmett rushed over and surrounded me in a brotherly embrace. "Celebrating is way too much fun!"

"I suppose now we have two weddings to plan," Rosalie smirked evilly.

"Whoa… Back up. Wedding?" I asked in horror. This was going too fast.

"Well, of course. Just because he hasn't asked you yet, doesn't mean he's not going to," Rosalie replied simply.

I grumbled to myself but didn't fight her. It was kind of obvious that he would, although I secretly hoped he wouldn't ask so soon. I mean, we had only had out first kiss today.

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**Review please...**

**I think I'm going to try and end this story soon. I don't think I want to do a wedding scene though... If enough people want me to do a wedding scene, I will, but you all have to tell me what you want!**


	18. Athenodora

**I am sooooooooooooooooooooooo sorry for the long wait... I know the excuses aren't good, but school has taken up a lot of my time and I had writer's block for a really long time.**

**But thank you, all my lovely, wonderful, brilliant (you all can stop me anytime :D), well you get the point, who have stuck with this story... I know I said there would only be a few more chapters left, but I think I may make it longer than I intended... I saw the vampire index at the end of Breaking Dawn and I got kinda mad when I found out that all the Volturi leaders had mates... so that is what brought me out of my writer's block... :D**

**But anyway... I really hope you like this... I don't think it's all that great, and I have no idea where the Animal Farm thing came in, but it helped me start this chapter so I don't really care.**

**On with the story...**

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I sighed for what seemed like the billionth time today as I tenderly fingered a page of the book I was reading. I didn't understand any part of Animal Farm even though I had already read it quite a few times.

Which animal symbolized whom? This just happened recently didn't it- within the past few decades? Wasn't that Napoleon character still alive? None of it made sense even though I had never had trouble remembering any of it before.

But why did symbolism even matter? Of course, I normally enjoyed symbolism… it was like trying to put together a puzzle- the object was to find which two things go together. But now, I couldn't care less for symbolism. Why couldn't things just be direct and simple?

I gently laid the book down on the bedside table. It had only been about thirty minutes since my family exited my room and I should have been done with the book, but I couldn't think about the book. My mind was wandering- something it did often.

Wedding. Rosalie had said wedding. I had agreed with her. It was assumed Caius and I would get married.

I didn't like where my thoughts were taking me.

"_I really think tonight is the night, Rachel. It has to be! He's been courting you for about a year now and it's obvious he loves you. The way he looks at you, it's like he's longing for you." _My mother.

"_I think tonight is going to be a wonderful night." _Laurent.

" _You and your parents believed I was going to propose tonight." _Again, Laurent's voice.

The memories came swirling into my mind with no end in sight. Past conversations about love, marriage, and total devotion to a man filled my thoughts to the point of suffocation.

Thankfully, a knock on the door interrupted my frightening thoughts.

"Rachel? Can I come in?" Kathryn asked politely.

"Sure," I replied as I hopped off the bed to greet her properly.

She gracefully walked in and stopped a few feet away from where I was standing. It was oddly quiet, which was quite unlike Kathryn, so I decided to start the conversation.

"So did Alejandro ever get his room clean?" I asked with a devious smile.

"No," a harsh tone entered her voice, erasing all the friendliness that had been in her voice before and wiped the smile from my face.

I was quiet for a few more seconds before speaking again. "Is something wrong, Kathryn?"

"Stay away from Caius," she hissed. I shot her a questioning look and she explained, the cruel tone still in her voice. "Caius already has a mate. If you don't want to get hurt, leave. Now."

"I'm sorry, maybe I didn't hear you correctly. What did you say?" I growled. I would give one chance to contradict her statement and one chance only.

"You heard me," she snarled. "He's already married to her. He has been for thousands of years. If you don't leave, Athenodora and I will kill you." I didn't need to ask who Athenodora was. Kathryn's thoughts told me she was Caius's wife. His _mate_.

"You really want me to leave?" I asked feeling rather perplexed. Kathryn and I were friends- or so I thought.

"Yes. I'll help you pack," she added as she packed all my things quickly into the suitcase I kept in my room.

I kept up with her pace and grabbed her wrist. "I don't see what makes you think I will leave so quickly," I snarled. "I still have my family- that'd be eight against two, assuming it would be only you and Athenodora."

"Caius would fight with us," she sneered as she freed herself from my hold. "And if you killed the three of us, Aro and Marcus would have your entire family burned."

"Caius won't fight against me, and if you kill me, Caius will burn you personally." It took all I had not to flinch at my words. I was never so vile- not even when I spoke of Laurent- but it was still the truth.

"Then perhaps we should kill you now," came a new, nasally voice from the door. The woman was in the shadows, but I could still see her clearly.

She had a pale face surrounded by dark blonde hair that cascaded down her back, stopping a few inches from her waistline and dull, crimson eyes- the flatness suggested she hadn't fed for a few days- bore straight into my now black eyes. Her seductive figure was showed off by a luxurious indigo dress that reminded me of royalty- perhaps she wore this on purpose as if to say 'I always get what I want.'

"As if you could," I retorted. I had yet to find someone who could resist my mental commands, except for maybe Caius when he was being sneaky. I would have to remember to test my power on Caius to see if he could resist it.

"I could," she smiled as she stepped away from the door and closer to where I stood. As she walked, Kathryn went back to her task of putting my things in the suitcase.

"Kathryn has told me all about your special talent. You can control people's minds for a short while which would also allow you to hear someone's thoughts." Athenodora continued. "While I may not be immune to this, I'm sure I have faster reflexes than you, which would allow me to disarm you."

I couldn't follow where her words were leading me and her thoughts were in Italian, just like most of the people here, which didn't help at all. Whatever she was implying, it didn't sound good.

"Allow me to demonstrate my power," she added, her nasally voice becoming even more annoying if that was possible.

I suddenly felt weak and my knees gave out beneath me. I was now kneeling on the floor, doing my best not to slump down any further. My efforts were wasted because I fell limply to the floor, just like a rag doll.

"You now have not control over your body," Athenodora giggled shrilly.

'_What the hell? Edw-' _I try to get Edward's attention but I was stopped halfway through his name. If I could have, I would have glared at Athenodora, but having no control over my body was really becoming annoying. How could she have even gained this power?

"Oh, and your brain is a part of your body, therefore you cannot contact any of your family mentally," Athenodora added conversationally as she helped Kathryn pack my things.

It was mainly quiet for the next minute. The only sounds were the swishing of Kathryn and Athenodora's clothes.

I heard a disgusted growl, probably from Kathryn, and the faint sound of a light cloth falling to the ground.

"What is that?" Athenodora asked.

"I don't know, but it's stained with blood," Kathryn answered.

The handkerchief. It must be. It was the only thing I owned that was stained with blood.

Someone picked up the handkerchief and sniffed it. "It smells really… good," Athenodora noted. "Rachel, why do you have this? I'll lift some of the restrictions, but don't try to contact Edward; I won't allow you that much freedom."

I tried to answer, but since I was face down on the floor, the two women couldn't hear me. "I got her," I heard Kathryn say as she roughly lifted me off the ground into a limp sitting position.

"It's my blood. I had that handkerchief the night I was bitten." I left out the part about how it was Emmett's. If they knew it was special to me, they might have taken it away, and being childish as I was, I didn't want to loose it.

"Then why do you keep it?" Athenodora asked.

I winced mentally. I was hoping she wouldn't ask. "As a reminder," I answered vaguely.

Kathryn and Athenodora gave each other a glance and shrugged as they went back to packing my things.

Although I knew there was a slim chance of actually being able to contact Edward, I gave it a try. I found the mental strength was just out of my reach.

_Strange,_ I thought idly. _I still have free reign over personal thoughts. I just can't send others my thoughts._

If I were capable of moving my mouth I would have gasped. It was so obvious. Why hadn't I thought of it before? I just hoped Edward was listening.

_EDWARD! _I shouted mentally. _Come on! I know you can hear my thoughts… I hope you can anyway. You can't be _that_ far away. This is no time for privacy! Please! Please be able to hear me!_

When we heard a knock on the door, Kathryn and Athenodora immediately turned toward the door and I cursed Athenodora's power for not allowing me to move.

"Rachel?" Edward called. "Are you in there?"

Athenodora ran over to pick me up and then found a place to hide behind so Edward wouldn't know where we are.

"Edward," Kathryn greeted warmly.

"Kathryn." Good. Edward was already suspicious of Kathryn.

_Be careful, Edward. Athenodora has a weird power that renders you helpless. I feel like a stupid rag doll._

"Where's Rachel?" Edward sounded fierce, but as thought through what would most likely happen, I realized Edward would loose. Though he was physically stronger than both women, Athenodora's power would stop him in his tracks.

"Why don't you come in?"

_NO, EDWARD! It's a trap! Don't come in!_

"I don't think-" Edward's voice faltered then stopped completely. I could hear him fall limply to the floor, just as I had done a few minutes ago.

Athenodora left me laying beside the large oak desk as she went to pick up Edward.

"Keep working Kathryn. Now we've got to get this kid's stuff, too," Athenodora said.

"We're almost done here. Should we leave them in here while we get Edward's stuff?"

"We should bring them in with us. I'll have a hard time keeping control over both. They're fighters," Athenodora said as she picked both Edward and I up, awkwardly slinging us over her shoulders and sneakily brought us into Edward's room.

I realized what Athenodora meant when she said she would have a hard time controlling us. I was able to move a little bit. I couldn't go very far, but I could move just enough to whisper and prop myself up.

"I'm sorry, Edward," I whispered.

"Don't worry about it. Who's the blonde?"

"Athenodora. She's got some freaky power that I told you about."

"So why can't I hear anyone's thoughts now?"

"She's controlling our movements, which would also include our mental power, I guess."

"So why were you able to contact me?"

"Those thoughts were my personal thoughts. I wasn't sending them to you."

"Ah."

We were quiet for the rest of the time. I entertained myself by staring at the violin Edward had in his room- since he couldn't bring the piano, he brought something smaller- and played a song in my head.

"Alright," Kathryn said. "I think that's it."

"Good. Now let's get these two on a plane back to America. The sooner they're gone, the sooner Caius and I can be happy," Athenodora smiled. I let a growl escape my lips and Edward gave me a questioning look.

"Oh, she didn't tell you?" Athenodora asked him. "The reason why we're sending you both to America is because Rachel is getting in the way of what I want. I don't know why Caius forgot about me, but if he forgets about her, then he'll come back to me. I'm already his wife. He'll be begging for forgiveness and, just because I love him so much, I will forgive him."

"You're crazy." I knew there were a bunch of other things Edward could have said, but 'you're crazy' was all he could think of. Well, I suppose it was true.

"We'd better hurry if we want to keep this a secret. There's still no one out there, but that could change. Let's go," Kathryn said before Athenodora could think of a come back.

Giving us a long, menacing glare, Athenodora picked us both up again as Kathryn grabbed the suitcases and led the way down a hallway I had never been through.

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**Again, I'm sorry to all you lovely people who like this story... I promised that I wouldn't be one of those people who don't update their stories, but the writer's block was kinda unexpected... **

**Review please... it really does help me write faster because then I know that there are people out there who like this story. :D**


	19. New Friends

**Sorry that this update took forever and that it's so short... I know where I want to go with this story but I just can't figure out exactly how I want it to go.**

**Anyway I hope you like this!**

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"Damn," was all I could say. Athenodora and Kathryn had somehow managed to get a private plane to fly Edward and I back to America and get us back to our home. They had told the pilot that Edward and I were sick and that we needed to go back home so our doctor, who happened to be an expert on our illness, could treat us. At first the pilot hadn't believed us but apparently Athenodora can also force someone to do something instead of just making them loose control of their bodies.

We were currently alone in the foyer of our home. I had missed this place but now I was beginning to miss my room in Volterra. My room there was blue and the foyer here had an orange scheme. Complete opposites.

I could smell a faint rotting flowers smell and realized that we had forgotten to dispose of the flowers I had brought home a few weeks ago.

"Well, at least they're gone now," said Edward, trying to lighten the mood but failing. "Now we can go back and have Caius explain everything."

"I don't think I'm going back to Volterra, Edward. You can go if you want, but I'm staying here." I had finally allowed myself to show how much I was hurting inside. I did my best to make it seem like I didn't believe Athenodora when they were with us, but now that it was just Edward and I, I let it all out.

"I can't believe Caius would chase me when he already had a wife. What a jerk! To think that I actually believed him when he said he had never had anyone so special to him!"

Edward listened patiently as I continued and released all the bottled up emotions. It took a while, but he was quiet the entire time.

Edward was about to finally get his say when we heard a knock on the door. I went to open it and didn't like what I saw.

"Hi, Rachel!" Jerry said with a smile. "I thought I saw you come back!"

"I'm sorry, Jerry, but this isn't the best time," I said as I tried to close the door.

Unfortunately Jerry's hand tried to stop it and I let him, not wanting to crush his fingers.

"So did you still want to go on that date?" Jerry never gave up, did he?

"No, sorry," I said as I tried to close the door.

"Maybe another time?"

"NO, Jerry!" I shouted as I slammed the door and crossed my arms.

'_Maybe she's just having her special _woman moments_,' _Jerry thought to himself as he turned away.

I growled and Edward had to put his hand on my shoulder to stop me from attacking the ignorant boy.

"So as I was about to say before we were so rudely interrupted," Edward chuckled humorlessly. "I think you should give Caius another chance. He's genuinely in love with you and his thoughts never wandered to Athenodora. I think he's almost forgotten about her."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"Well, I mean, he wouldn't take just anyone to that little garden or whatever it was," Edward replied. He obviously didn't understand what I was asking.

"No. I meant what did you say? Did you say something about his thoughts?"

"Um. No?" Edward's voice was trembling. I caught him.

"YOU COULD HEAR HIS THOUGHTS?" I bellowed at him.

"Well, not all the time," Edward said, keeping his eyes from meeting mine. "Just during the fight…"

"He was thinking in Italian," I snarled. "Edward. Do you speak Italian?" I asked emphasizing the work 'speak.'

"Well, yeah," Edward said, suddenly becoming interested with a button on his jacket.

I growled and then tackled him. It would normally have been pointless since Edward is better at fighting than I am, but he let me tackle him. He figured it would release most of my anger.

"Why didn't you tell me you spoke Italian? Weren't you the one who asked what Caius and Aro were saying? Why didn't you tell me any of it?"

"For your first question, you never asked," Edward smiled as he pushed me off of him and stood up. "For your second question, yes, but I thought that you might have been able to pick up most of the conversation… apparently you didn't." He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender, not wanting me to tackle him again. "And for your third question, I didn't tell you for the same reason Carlisle didn't tell you that he knew you two would fall in love: You wouldn't have believed it and then done your best to make sure it didn't happen."

I glared at him for a very long five seconds before sighing in defeat. I was about to reply but we heard another knock on the door.

Too lazy to listen to the person's mind (especially since I had a good idea of who it was), I went to open the door.

"I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT TO GO OUT WITH YOU!" I shouted at Jerry.

"Ouch, Rachel. Just ouch," a high-pitched feminine voice said with mock sadness.

I opened my eyes, which were shut tight due to the fact that I screamed with my eyes closed, and found a short, beautiful, young lady with cropped black hair and topaz eyes staring up at me in amusement. Next to her was a tall, well-built, young man with blonde hair and the same topaz eyes as the girl next to him. His face was also marred with horrible crescent-shaped scars from what I could only assume were vampire bites. I idly wondered if it was so bad that humans could also see the scars.

Behind them I noticed a few of the neighbors staring at us. I gave them a friendly wave. "Sorry to have disturbed you all!" I shouted before pulling the vampire couple inside.

Behind me Edward chuckled.

"You really need to listen to people's thoughts, Rachel," he said when he finished.

"Shut up, Edward. If you thought it was a boy who was infatuated with you, would you want to listen to his thoughts?"

Edward frowned before answering no.

"So where's the rest of the family?" The dark haired pixie asked conversationally. I made a mental note to ask her how she knew there were more of us.

"Italy," I spat. Immediately after my bitter response, I began to feel my anger subside and a welcome calm feeling took over. I looked to the tall man and smiled. "Thank you. May I ask how you are doing that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "I can manipulate emotions."

"Interesting," Edward commented as he silently wondered if we could trust these two. I believed we could. They didn't seem harmful and I couldn't hear any unfriendly thoughts from either.

"So why are they still in Italy? Should they have come home with their two youngest family members?" The short girl's soprano voice wasn't annoying like most high-pitched voices are. Hers was more musical.

"We were taken back here against our will," Edward said as he glanced at me. I did my best to force the growl that was building in my throat back down, but I still couldn't help from frowning.

"That's something you never mentioned," the man said to the girl.

"Wait," I said. "How do who I am? You said my name earlier."

"Well, perhaps we should introduce ourselves," the girl said as she was thinking how rude it was of her to forget to introduce herself. I would have told her that I didn't find it rude considering that we had only just met each other a minute ago, but I decided against it.

She continued with a bright smile. "My name is Alice, and this is my husband, Jasper. We've been looking for you and we'd like to join your coven."

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**YAY!! Alice and Jasper come in! I totally hadn't planned that just so you all know... it just kinda came one day. I'm going to try to get the next update up either tonight or tomorrow. The next one will probably be short too, but in their own way, they are kinda important.**

**Again, I'm sorry for the short, crappy update but this was the best I could do for right now. It took less than an hour to write so it's obviously not as good as it could have been but I felt had about not giving you all an update sooner. :D**


	20. Old Friends

**Sorry that this didn't get up as soon as I planned... it's longer than I thought it would be too, so I'm hoping that makes it better... :D**

**Anyway... I hope this isn't crappy...**

**Oh... and if anyone has reviewed and I didn't reply to it, I'm sorry. I try to reply to every review I get, but sometimes it doesn't get to my e-mail for some unknown reason... **

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After Alice and Jasper introduced themselves they told us about how Alice could see the future and how Jasper could play with people's emotions as I had felt earlier. It didn't take long to appreciate the two as friends. Alice was hyper and loud while Jasper was controlled and quiet.

If I had met them separately, I would have never guessed that they were perfect for each other, but there was this strong feeling of love between the two that proved otherwise. I wondered if Marcus would be stunned at the strength of their relationship when they expressed it so subtly.

"So may we join your coven?" Jasper asked when they had finished telling Edward and I their story.

"I don't see why not," I replied.

"Carlisle isn't here at the moment, but I'm sure he'd be delighted at a new addition to our family," Edward added.

"So would Esme," I said as I nodded my head.

"So when do you think they'll be coming back?" Alice asked.

"You're the one who can see the future," I sighed.

Alice's face went blank for a moment and I was afraid that I had stepped over some boundary but then I saw in her mind that she was looking to see when our family would be back. She quickly regained her composure and frowned slightly.

"They haven't made up their minds yet," Alice said. She must have seen our faces and quickly explained what she meant. "I can only see the future once people have made their decisions."

"Intriguing," Edward said.

"You're starting to sound a lot like Aro," I teased lightly. "So interested in talents."

"Aro from the Volturi?" Jasper asked.

"That's why we were in Italy," I said as I nodded my head.

"Well, actually, it was because Rachel-" Edward quickly stopped himself when I prepared myself to attack him. "You really should go back…" Edward trailed off.

"Why? So I can watch Athenodora seduce him?" I spat back out. Jasper growled as he felt my rage. He did his best to calm me down but it wasn't working. "Sorry, Jasper," I said, turning to face him.

"No, Rachel," Edward replied. "You should go back so you will believe me when I say Caius loves you, not that putrid excuse for a woman."

I turned back to face Edward. "Maybe you're right," I conceded. "But that doesn't mean I'm not still mad. If you're married, that's something you should say before you ask someone out let alone kiss them."

Alice coughed lightly. Edward and I snapped out of our fight and turned to face them.

"Sorry to interrupt your fight, but another vampire coven will be here in a moment," said Alice. "You seem to know one, Rachel."

"From the Volturi?" I asked. Alice shook her head no.

"No, they're American," she replied.

"But I don't know any other vampires," I said before I started at the ground in thought.

"She's got blonde hair and is a little taller than you," Alice described. "I'm not sure how you know her though."

"We'll find out in a few moments," Jasper said as he turned toward the door.

Two seconds later, we heard a knock on the door. I sighed and went to open it.

I wasn't expecting what happened next.

A pair of arms wrapped tightly around me while the owner of the arms and I crashed to the floor.

"Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, Rachel!" A familiar voice kept chanting my name happily for about a minute. The light shock from when she first touched me must not have affected her too much… or it could have been because we had known each other before?

"Come on, Erin," came a second voice. Erin? Could it be?

"Give her room to breathe," a third voice said.

"Not like she'll need it though," a fourth laughed.

"But I haven't seen her in _forever_!" said the second voice. There was no denying it… this was definitely Erin, but her voice had that musical vampire tone.

"Erin?" I asked excitedly.

"Rachel!" Erin's arms squeezed me tighter and had I been human, I would have been crushed to a pulp.

"Um… hello?" Edward said awkwardly.

"Oh, Rachel… Who's your friend?" Erin asked with a meaningful edge to it.

"He's my _brother_, Edward," I replied emphasizing on the word 'brother.'

"Brother?" asked the second voice. I could tell by her thoughts that she was already thinking of 'befriending' Edward.

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I'd prefer to keep from making any sudden changes," Edward said stiffly but not unkindly. Edward always had to be the gentleman.

"Ha! Michelle, you've been caught," the fourth voice said teasingly.

"Well, I suppose I do have an unfair advantage," Edward replied. "Rachel and I can both hear thoughts."

"Really?" The third voice said. "Another bunch with talents. I have the ability to make others see things my way."

"That's interesting," Alice said.

"Alice and see the future and I mess with people's emotions," Jasper added.

I repositioned Erin and myself so we were sitting up and I returned her hug. "I've missed you so much!" After I finished saying hello, I went to stand by Edward as Erin went to her friends.

"Right well, I suppose we should all introduce ourselves," the fourth voice said.

"I'll start," Erin said. "I'm Erin Stewart Rostell." Erin hadn't changed too much since I had last seen her two days before I became a vampire. She still had dark blonde hair only it was longer than I remembered. She also looked a bit older too, about three years older so maybe the physical age of twenty. Her eyes were a bright, ruby red though, which was different.

"Andrea Kabrina Rostell." Andrea, who happened to be the third voice I had heard, had light brown hair almost the same length as mine and her eyes were just as vibrant as Erin's. I supposed that she and Erin could have passed for twins if they wanted to, but they wouldn't have been able to say they were completely identical.

"Venus Bacciano Rostell." Venus was the fourth voice. She had lovely, blonde hair that curled softly and would have probably gone down just past the middle of her back had she not been wearing it in an elegant, emerald clip. She was just as beautiful as her name suggested. She could probably have passed for the Roman goddess Venus. Rosalie might have sworn she was looking in a mirror were she here- except for the eyes, of course.

"Michelle Rostell." The second voice. "I am the leader of our coven." Michelle had reddish-brown hair that cascaded to her shoulders. Her scarlet eyes looked us all over, trying to determine if we were safe or not, but quickly relaxed, obviously pleased with what she saw. According to her thoughts, she saw us four unknown, animal-blood-drinking vampires as 'safe and welcoming.'

"Jasper Whitlock," Jasper said coolly as he wrapped his arms around his tiny wife.

"Alice Whitlock," Alice said brightly as she moved a short strand of black hair out of her eyes before resting her hands on Jasper's.

"Do you have a human maiden name, Alice? I assume you and Jasper are married," Venus asked politely.

"If I do I can't remember it," Alice replied. She didn't seem to upset that she couldn't remember her last name.

"Edward Masen Cullen," Edward said. I could tell that he, too, was eyeing the new vampires, determining if they were safe or not.

"Rachel McCarty Cullen," I said when it was my turn. I glanced up at Edward and silently told him that I believed they wouldn't harm us. He nodded briefly but kept himself mentally alert.

"So where are your leaders? Am I correct in assuming you four are from different covens?" Andrea asked conversationally.

"Alice and Jasper are about to join our coven and I already think of them as siblings." Although I didn't really need to say how I felt about them, I figured it might ease Edward's nerves if they knew that Alice and Jasper were with us and if, for any reason, any of the four of us were hurt, the other three would have their revenge.

"And Carlisle, the leader of our coven, is currently in Volterra, Italy, dealing with the Volturi with the rest of our family," Edward finished.

"Have you broken any laws?" Erin asked with a smile.

"No. Actually, we should still be there," Edward replied before I had a chance to answer. "We were there for Rachel."

"Yeah, and that was a big, fat mistake, wasn't it?" I snarled.

"It's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all," Edward said.

"So you admit that I lost love. Face it, Edward! I'm a looser when it comes to love!" I shouted. I almost wished I could cry.

"Edward, please stop making Rachel mad. I can feel her emotions and it's starting to make _me_ mad," Jasper said with an edge to his voice.

"Rachel, may I ask why talking about Volterra makes you mad?" Erin asked sweetly. Damn. She could still make me want to gush everything that was happening even thought it had been ten years since we had seen each other.

"I would also like to know, if you don't mind," Alice said as Jasper nodded in agreement.

I held my hand to my face, my thumb and forefinger resting on my temples.

"Go ahead, Edward," I replied, doing my best to sound calm.

"I'm sure they'd all like to hear you say it," Edward pushed.

I glared at him. "I'm a little biased right now," I growled.

Edward sighed and went on to tell the newcomers our story after I told him there was no need to rush. I decided that it would be best for me if I did my best to tone out his words and went upstairs to make sure I couldn't tackle him again.

I stayed clear of Carlisle's study for the moment. No need to remind me of what happened. Instead I went into Edward's room and found a record that had some of my favorite music on it.

I put the record on its player and turned it on. It was quite loud to human ears, but I didn't mind.

I quickly became bored listening to music since it didn't help calm my feelings and turned the record player off. Not knowing what to do, I started pacing the hallway.

With nothing left to do, I closed my eyes and let all the random thoughts that I normally pushed out of my head flood my mind.

_The house didn't smell like vampires much. Have we been gone that long?_

_Jerry needs to get a hobby. I wonder what he's been doing all this time. Knocking at the door, hoping he'd get a response?_

_Alice and Jasper seem nice. I could definitely get along with them._

_I haven't seen Erin in forever. I wonder how she became a vampire._

_Jasper is a complete foot taller than me. Everyone but Alice is taller than me. Even Esme is taller than me by three inches. I feel short now. Oh well. Maybe Alice and I can start a short people club, even though I'm four or five inches taller than her. We're both still short._

When I reopened my eyes, I found that I was in Carlisle's study. _I didn't realize his door was left open. Did I open it without knowing what I was doing?_

I turned quickly to exit the room but instead was met with the largest picture in Carlisle's study- the painting of four vampires in Volterra.

While I wanted to turn away, I couldn't help but stare.

Damn. This is horrible, just horrible.

"Edward… you better get up here," I said in a low voice, trying to take my eyes off but failing, as I knew I would.

"I'll be right back," I heard Edward excuse himself as he ran up the steps.

Edward sighed as soon as he saw me.

"You're pathetic," he laughed.

"Shut up," I scolded lightly.

"Why is Rachel pathetic?" Erin asked as she came up to see what we were doing.

"Where did you start explaining?" I asked Edward.

"Oh… So this is the picture," Alice said as she came to join us.

"Yes, now if you will all please exit the room. Yes, thank you," Edward said as he gripped my arm tightly and dragged me out of the room.

As soon as we were out of the room I shook my head as if to clear my thoughts. I tend to do this often even though I know it never works.

"Can we see the picture?" Venus asked as she came up to meet us near Carlisle's study.

"Maybe some other time," Edward said as he gestured for everyone to go back down stairs.

"So what do we do now?" Michelle asked. By her thoughts, I could tell she was used to deciding what to do, but since this was not her territory, she would allow Edward and I to choose our plan of attack.

"You're already done explaining?" I asked.

"It didn't take _that_ long," Edward replied. "And now we go back to Volterra. If you wish to come with us, we'd be glad for the company," he answered Michelle.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said quickly. "No way am I going back there!"

"Well, I could try to get Caius to see things your way," Andrea said kindly.

"Thank you, but I don't think love works that way," I replied as kindly as I could. I didn't want to start out with a bad impression, although it was probably too late for that.

"Well, then I'll make Athenodora see that she needs to leave so you and Caius can have a blooming relationship," she smiled. I couldn't help but smile back. Apparently I didn't make too much of a horrible of an impression.

"That's very kind, but…"

"Look, Rachel. I don't need to see the future to know that you'll be miserable if you don't fix this," Alice interrupted. _Wow… I really do need to make a short club… Short people are always scary when they're trying to force something upon you!_

I sighed. None of them would let me give up.

After a few moments of silence, Jasper spoke up.

"So when do we leave?"

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**Please review and let me know what you think! I also take suggestions, but there's no promise that I'll use it... normally I use at least one idea that someone has given me... thanks to you guys... you know who you are!**


	21. Missing

**Okay... short little chapter just for those of you who are wondering where the hell Caius is...**

**I might put in more chapters of Caius's POV, but for now, this is a one-time thing... the rest of the story will be in Rachel's POV (except for any other short chapters I feel are kinda important of course)**

**But anyway, I hope this isn't too bad... I'm kinda tired and I need to go to bed, but I wanted to finish this tonight because it's so short. :D**

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-Caius's POV-

Carlisle walked toward me and I thought, _'finally, someone who can answer my question!'_

"Have you seen Rachel?" We asked in unison.

"Odd," Carlisle said with a confused voice.

"You mean you don't know where she is either?" I asked, suddenly even more worried than before. If I was concerned that she was avoiding me before, that was lost in comparison to my concern for where she could have possibly gone without telling Carlisle.

"No, I haven't," replied Carlisle. "None of us have. We haven't seen Edward either," he added. "He was saying something about taking a tour of Volterra with Marcus but Marcus said he hasn't seen Edward in a while."

"When was the last time you saw her?" I asked nervously.

"Um," Carlisle said as he scratched the back of his head with a guilty look on his face. "Well, I guess it would have been yesterday…"

"You haven't seen your daughter in a day? When you're on a _family_ vacation?" I was shocked that no one in that very protective family had seen Rachel and Edward in at least a day.

"Well, we figured Rachel would be with you and Edward would be in one of the libraries," Carlisle explained.

"So where do you think they went?" I asked. I was pretty sure that Rachel and Edward wouldn't runaway together… would they?

Carlisle must have seen the worry on my face. "Don't worry. Edward and Rachel are like twins. They don't feel that way about each other." This helped me relax somewhat but I was still worried.

"As to where they went, I have no idea," Carlisle continued. "It's not like either of them to just get up and leave without letting someone know where they're going."

"There you both are," Aro said as he bolted over to where Carlisle and I stood. "Have either of you see Kathryn? She was supposed to report back to me this morning but I haven't seen her in a while."

"No," I replied while Carlisle shook his head. "Have you seen Rachel and Edward?"

"No, now that you mention it. Strange, aren't they normally in the library? I was just there looking for Kathryn and I didn't see either of them," Aro replied.

"Wonderful, now we have three missing vampires," I murmured bitterly.

"Three missing vampires?" Marcus asked as he appeared from around the corner. "Who's missing?"

"Kathryn, Edward, and Rachel," I sighed.

"Oh, poor Caius's lover is missing," Marcus pretended to pout. "Did poor Caius scare off little Rachel?"

"Of all the times you could have chosen to actually give a response to a situation instead of acting apathetic, you choose this time?" I snarled.

"Quiet, both of you," Aro commanded. "This is serious. The three vampires least likely to run away have just gone missing."

"So what do you propose we do now?" Carlisle asked. He had this look in his eyes that I wasn't used to seeing in the good-natured doctor. His eyes had a protective edge to them, as if he was willing to do anything to keep his children safe.

"Should we ask Demetri to track them down?" Marcus suggested.

"That won't be necessary," Kathryn said as she emerged from the shadows of a dark corridor. "We're all safe, don't worry."

I was about to ask what she meant by 'safe' when I felt someone run right into me, which resulted in us both being thrown against the wall.

"Caius! I missed you so much!" A familiar, nasally voice said cheerfully.

Apparently Aro had also been attacked. He looked down at the woman clinging to his chest and frowned.

"Sulpicia?" Aro asked in disbelief.

I looked down at the woman clinging to me and grimaced.

"Athenodora." My voice, unlike hers, held absolutely no excitement.

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**Lemme know what you thought of this!**


	22. Going Back

**Okay... I think the beginning of this chapter is kinda sucky but I guess the rest is okay...**

**Please let me know what you think...**

**Oh... and I'm sorry this took so long to get out... I had major writer's block which is why this probably isn't the best it could be.**

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'_Don't you think you're being just a little pushy?' _I asked Edward with my thoughts as we drove to the airport. Alice and Jasper were in the back seat of Edward's car and the Rostell coven had taken Emmett's car since the rest of our family was still in Volterra.

'_Hey, don't blame this on me. You agreed to go,'_ he replied defensively yet he still managed to make his thoughts sound like teasing.

'_Sure. Although I don't know if I would have chosen the word 'agreed' to describe it.' _I gave a short, hollow laugh and then a soft sigh as I turned to stare out the window.

Alice and Jasper didn't seem to mind that Edward and I could carry on conversations without their knowledge. This was probably because they also seemed to know what the other was thinking just by staring into each other's eyes since their connection was so deep. They also didn't seem as flamboyant with their relationships as other couples. They were very quiet with everything, using just a casual holding of the hands or Jasper giving Alice a short kiss on the top of the head. I wish Emmett and Rosalie had those abilities.

The rest of the ride was quite uneventful. I was able to give Michelle directions on how to get to the airport when they were prevented from following us through thoughts, but that was really the only thing that involved actually thinking.

When we bought our tickets at the airport, I swear the clerk at the desk almost died of cardiac arrest when he looked at our large group of vampire girls. He hyperventilated for a few seconds before a lady coworker of his took pity on him and gently guided him out of the room. I was glad because his thoughts weren't the cleanest. They sounded a lot like Jerry's only six fold because there were six girls instead of one.

"Talk about drop dead gorgeous," Venus muttered as the rest of us did our best to cover our laughs so we wouldn't receive odd looks from the humans around us.

We waited two hours for the plane but it felt a lot longer. Edward tried talking to me in an attempt to keep my mind off confronting Caius, but it didn't work very well. Edward, for once, didn't know what to say so he went on talking about the new models of cars that had recently come out. Normally he talks about music, which I can easily relate to, but no. He had to talk about cars.

Talking with Erin about what we had been doing in the past ten years helped only slightly better than talking with Edward, only because it was something I was actually interested in.

I learned that a vampire, who in my opinion could be ranked as one of the worst stalkers in history, who fell in love with her a few months after I 'disappeared', had changed her after he gained her trust which took about three months. His name was Henry and he was nice in the first five months but then got possessive and Erin figured that since she didn't really love him she would leave (by this time she had been a vampire for a total of seven months).

After a year and a half of wandering around the Rocky Mountains (she ended up there to put quite a bit of distance between herself and Henry, who was in New York) she found Andrea who was also, at the time, a nomad. They traveled together for a time and eventually found Michelle and Venus and they have been a coven for approximately seven years.

She also told me what everyone thought about my sudden absence. I was glad to find out that my mother and father hadn't assumed that I had eloped with Laurent. That would have crushed me.

I told her what I had been doing and, grudgingly, why we were going back to Volterra. I tactfully evaded the question 'what happened to Laurent?' but I could tell she was still very interested on the subject.

I was grateful for the conversation, but my mind kept wandering to what I would do when we reached Volterra. I had always liked to think that the extra room in our minds that allowed us to concentrate on more than one thing at a time was a good thing, but today I was led to believe otherwise. At least she kept me from thinking of nothing other than Caius and Athenodora.

Soon the plane reached the gate and we were called to board the plane.

"Don't worry, Rachel. Everything will be fine," Edward assured me as he handed me my carry-on bag and gestured for me to lead the way.

"I certainly hope so," I muttered as I handed the lady my ticket and walked toward the plane.

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**Review please!**

**Oh... and I think I mentioned this last chapter, but if I haven't responded to any of your reviews or PMs, I'm sorry. For some reason, I'm not getting all of the reviews... I've noticed that some of the story alerts for the stories I read have been coming late too... oh well.**

**Hope you liked it!**


	23. Explanation

**I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Terribly sorry that it took so long to update! I kinda became obsessed with some of the Agatha Christie Books (so far I've read three in about a week and a half) and my muse is currently sick... so I'm sorry if this chapter isn't as good... I have almost run out of ideas so if someone has any ideas, PLEASE!! All suggestions are welcome!! I'm beginning to feel that my writing skills are declining because I don't have any new ideas so I don't know what to write about... **

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"Um…" Carlisle's face had what could only be described as pure confusion written all over his face.

"Aro, who's this?" Sulpicia asked Aro, still clinging to his side.

"Uh… this is Carlisle, my guest," Aro said. His usually calm and slightly amused face was covered with shock. I had the same questions he probably had but unlike him, I was more upset than shocked.

I pushed Athenodora off of me, not bothering to be careful as a gentleman like myself should. "Athenodora, why are you here? I thought you were dead." I hadn't enjoyed her presence before and her being here certainly wasn't something I was appreciated now. And it wasn't just because of her bad timing.

"Now why would you think that, dear?" Athenodora asked innocently. Her voice was innocent but I could see the difference in her eyes. She knew perfectly well that we wouldn't be likely to believe whatever story they had in mind but she would do her best to seduce me into believing her. I was disgusted by the thought.

"Maybe it's because we haven't seen you in a few thousand years," Marcus suggested.

"Marcus!" both girls exclaimed excitedly. "We haven't seen you in ages!" Sulpicia added as she bounced over to give Marcus a hug.

"Funny you should use the word 'ages,' Sulpicia," Marcus said, trying to get Sulpicia off of him. I didn't find Marcus's little joke funny though Athenodora gave an obviously fake giggle.

"Who are they?" Carlisle asked Aro. Carlisle seemed to be out of his previous shock but I could tell he was quite suspicious of Athenodora and Sulpicia's behavior.

Aro sighed. "This is my apparently not-so-dead-as-previously-though wife, Sulpicia and that is Athenodora, Caius's wife. We haven't seen them since we were changed into vampires," Aro explained. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he wasn't happy with the girls being here either.

"You're married?" Carlisle asked me in shock. I hoped his shock wouldn't turn into anger. If Carlisle was angry, Rachel would obviously feel the same if not more passionately than him.

I started to answer but Athenodora took over. "Of course! We were married when we were humans but then we were separated and now we're together again!"

"The marriages were set up by our parents," I added bitterly. I wanted to add how much I detested the arrangement but Aro cut in. It was probably a good thing that he did.

"At least you and Marcus were changed a few days after the marriage," Aro grumbled. "I had to spend more time with the ladies than you did."

"Well, yeah, but weren't they changed a few years after Caius and I?" Marcus asked. Although the thought was bitter, I found myself wishing that the girls had died like humans should instead of becoming vampires.

"Four years later!" Aro cried loudly.

"But don't you love me, dear Aro?" Sulpicia asked. Poor Sulpicia. She could be quite emotional if I remembered correctly. I couldn't see anyway that this conversation could possibly work out without at least one party being upset.

"Uh, no sorry. I told you that a month before we were married," Aro explained trying to sound tolerant. He failed miserably.

"W-what?" Sulpicia asked. If she were human, tears would be flowing silently down her pale cheek. It would seem that I did remember correctly. I was surprised she wasn't making more of a scene.

"Look, why don't you ladies get settled in while we figure out what to do and feed," Marcus suggested, sounding just as bored as ever. Carlisle did a fairly good job of hiding his flinch at the word 'feed,' but I noticed it right away. I couldn't help but feel sorry for my old friend. He still couldn't accept the natural food source for vampires. But, it was all a personal preference, of course.

"That would probably be best," Athenodora said quickly as she went to grab Sulpicia's hand. Their physical contact gave me an idea and I swiftly went over to Aro and brushed my hand lightly against his. He seemed to get the message but waited for the women to leave. Quickly, the women turned and walked down the hallway. I realized they shouldn't know their way around the labyrinth-like mansion, but I was far too concerned with other things to worry about that right now.

"Well?" I asked once I was sure they were out of earshot. I knew the answer already but I wanted to hear what he thought of Sulpicia's thoughts.

"Unfortunately, she didn't touch me," Aro sighed. "Sulpicia knows she had a plan and followed through with it but she doesn't know what it was about."

"A plan?" Carlisle asked suddenly. His voice oozed concern for his daughter. I had a feeling we were thinking the same thing.

Aro nodded and continued. "It had something to do with gaining our… ahem… 'good graces' back," Aro said rather uncomfortably. I laughed humorlessly.

"Like that will ever happen," I said angrily. There was no possible way I could ever be seduced by a woman like Athenodora

"This is very bad, very bad indeed," Carlisle muttered to himself. I had to agree. This was extremely distressing.

"I just hope Rachel decides to listen to me," I sighed. I feared what would happen if she didn't. I started to imagine the possibilities but quickly stopped myself.

"Pardon?" Marcus said sounding confused. Had he really not thought of it yet? He was the most imaginative of our group when it came to negative events.

"I assume that we are thinking the same thing," Carlisle said to me. I nodded glumly.

"Rachel and Edward were sent back to America by Athenodora," I declared. "That's the only logical explanation."

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**Reivew please. Again, all suggestions are welcome. :D**


	24. Blood

**Sorry this isn't as long as I wanted it to be... I wanted to get something out tonight so I was kind of rushing to get this out.**

**Anyway, this is in Caius's POV and there they drink blood... i hope it turned out okay... I had plans to write it much better than I did, but oh well. Let me know how i did!**

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My companions and I walked down a hallway until Carlisle decided he would leave us so we could go feed. I felt horrible about killing innocent humans but it's like an addiction- I can't stop. Anyway, my thoughts about it wouldn't matter in a few minutes. In a few minutes my mouth would be filled with precious blood and my throat would stop burning.

As soon as we reached our destination I detected the scent of human blood. It wasn't really far away but it wasn't close enough for me to loose my concentration either. Slowly, the unsuspecting humans came closer.

We entered the room where we usually attacked our unsuspecting prey. It reeked of blood. The burning in my throat intensified as I inhaled the alluring scent.

It didn't take long for the rest of our coven to join us. I could see the hunger carved in their dark eyes.

Felix opened the thick, wooden door through which our prey would enter. Slowly, they emerged from the dark abyss. I forced myself to say still until Marcello, our human servant, had securely locked the door behind him, trapping his fellow humans. Few were actually aware that they were facing certain death. Some were confused as to why their 'guide' had left them in the company of beautiful yet fearsome strangers. The majority was completely at ease with the situation, unaware of their imminent peril.

Aro was the first to take a move, as always. Marcus and I followed a split second after and then came the rest of our coven. We struck quick, like lightning, and the first to go had absolutely no idea what was happening.

My first kill was a tall, burly man in his late thirties.

The screams. The horrible screams. I did my best to block them out, but I couldn't. For a short moment I was disgusted with myself. Rachel and her family weren't so cruel as to take a life. I should follow their example.

But those thoughts vanished as soon as the thick, crimson liquid hit my throat. It tasted amazing.

Amazing. Brilliant. Luxurious. Precious. Satisfying. I could go on with a list of adjectives.

I quickly drained my first victim and moved on to the second. A young woman in her mid twenties. She wasn't what I would call beautiful but she had an impression that said 'I get what I want' written all over her. Unless she wanted death, she most definitely wasn't getting what she desired.

I was soon finished with her and moved on to the next human. I repeated these steps over and over again, just like my fellow vampires.

We were soon finished but the smell of blood still lingered in the air.

"Well," Aro said as he rubbed his hands on his pants. "That was filling." Marcus sighed and walked out the door. I followed him.

"Just another bunch of humans to add to our list, eh, Caius?" Marcus asked. I couldn't answer so I nodded. Marcus and I both despised killing humans but we didn't have the strength to resist as Carlisle and his coven.

"What do you plan to do?" He asked a few moments later. He didn't need to explain what he meant.

"I don't know," I sighed. "Do you think she will listen?"

"She'll have to if she wants peace within herself," Marcus said wisely. "And peace within yourself as well," he added after a few seconds of thought.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she chose to make me suffer for the rest of eternity," I laughed humorlessly. "I deserve it," I added sadly.

"No you don't," Marcus said sternly. "And I think she knows it. Rachel's a smart girl. She'll listen because she knows you and cares for you."

I flinched at his words. "Don't lie just to make me feel better."

"I'm not," he replied simply. "You know I'm not. My God, you both are so stubborn." I smiled to myself with twisted happiness.

"Do you think we'll be able to find them?" I asked after a few minutes. This got Marcus's attention.

"Find? You're going after her?" Marcus asked in amazement.

"I won't be able to live with myself if I don't," I said. "I don't expect her to come to me after what happened."

"We keep assuming Athenodora," I frowned at the name, "took them. We don't have any proof of that. Yet," Marcus said.

"You're taking her side?" I asked, almost amused.

"Of course not," Marcus said defensively. "I don't like her anymore than you do. I'm just reminding you that something else could have happened."

"Well, I think Athenodora took them. Although I am willing to bend on my belief as to _where_ she took them. If she had any common sense, she would have taken them somewhere they weren't comfortable with. If she took them back to America, they'd be able to come right back with out any problems what so ever.

"But I do wonder how she was able to get them there," I continued. "Rachel and Edward would most definitely have put up a fight, and they're quite skilled in that area."

"Maybe she has a power she hasn't told us about," Marcus suggested. I frowned but nodded in agreement. That would fit what we've gathered so far. But if she did, that could make her dangerous.

"We just need to calm down and think about this," Marcus added. "If you look back, we've been overreacting."

I went over the past few hours and found that we _were_ overreacting. "So? I think I had a right to overreact," I replied defensively.

"Yes, but think of what Rachel would say," he laughed. I sighed in defeat. He was right. Rachel would say something along the lines of how she wasn't worth overreacting.

"Ah, but of course, she doesn't have the same view as I do. I don't think she realizes just how special she is," I said tenderly. I wasn't used to opening up to Marcus but it was strangely easy to do. It was probably because we were brothers and had known each other since birth.

"Do women ever?" Marcus asked with another laugh. "But as I said," he said. "Take your time thinking over this. We don't want to act on an impulse and find out we were wrong."

"We?" I asked. I couldn't help but feel hopeful.

"Of course. What would Aro and I be if we didn't help you?" Marcus replied with a grin. "Now go clean up and we'll think about this later. I'll be in the library in twenty minutes," he added, stopping in front of his room. I hadn't realized we had reached our hallway so quickly. Walking at human pace normally felt like it took forever.

I nodded and we entered our neighboring rooms. I closed the door behind me and sighed as I walked to the bathroom. I desperately hoped Marcus was right and that Rachel would listen.

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**Review please! Again, any suggestions are welcome!**

**So far, I _plan _on having the Romanians in here and maybe a real werewolf (not a shape-shifter like Jacob)**

**Lemme know what you think!**


	25. Funny Joke

**Ick... sorry it took so long to get this out.... I finished this a while ago but I didn't want to put this up until i got the next chapter done, but i wanted to put it up soon so it is currently 12:22AM and i just finished the next chapter. I honestly don't know how much i like these chapters, but the next chapter is kind of important. This one is more like filler stuff. Not important but it's in Emmett's POV :D It was pretty fun to write.**

**Happy Halloween! It is L's (from Death Note) birthday!!! -hugs L-**

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The past few hours have been really weird. I haven't seen either Rachel or Edward since we left Rachel's room. Rose and I checked the library, their rooms, the courtyard, and the big room where we had that little vampire reunion. It feels like we've checked everywhere but still, there was no sign of either of them. Maybe Rachel was _trying_ not to be found in which case we would never find her. But where would Edward be?

Currently, I was wandering the hallways in search of their scent and Rosalie was outside, doing the same. I wondered why we hadn't called in Demetri. He probably wouldn't want to be bothered anyway, I figured. Or maybe they were… feeding. I think someone had mentioned they would soon.

I made a mental note to find him when they were finished drinking. Thinking about the subject made my throat scratchy and uncomfortable but I did my best to ignore the feeling. Now was not the time to worry about my needs when Rachel was no where to be found

"Carlisle?" I called when I detected his scent. He was a few yards away but he would still hear me.

"Yes, Emmett?" he asked as he came around the corner of one of the many hallways. He looked rather worried.

"Where's Rach?" His eyes softened at my question and I realized that something was very wrong. "And Edward?" Carlisle sighed and I could see on his face that he was debating if he should tell me or not.

"We're not really sure, Emmett," he finally replied.

"Okay," I said, trying not to loose. "Well, she can't have gone too far, could she?" Once again, Carlisle got an uncomfortable look on his face.

"Well, we- that is to say Aro, Caius, Marcus and I- think she may be back in the U.S," he replied nervously. I had never seen Carlisle nervous and I was starting to wonder why. It was probably because he was afraid of my reaction and a large display of my strength.

"Back… back in America? Like, all the way back home? Across the ocean?" I asked feeling baffled. It took me a few moments but then I started laughing. Carlisle gave me a shocked look and watched me as I fell to my knees in laughter.

Of course Carlisle wasn't really worried. He was never worried. It was all just an act!

"Okay, okay. You got me. Rach, Edward, you can come out now!" I said through my fits of laughter.

"Where are they?" Rosalie asked as she came over to us. She gave me one of those looks that said, "I still don't know why I love you so much," before turning back to Carlisle for an answer.

"Heh, heh, Rose, he said they're back home! He's so funny! Across the ocean. What a funny idea! Alright, guys, seriously, come out now!" I eventually got over my laughter and waited for my siblings to come out.

Rose waited with me, probably feeling a little annoyed. When she was bored- that took ten seconds- she turned to face me.

"Emmett, I don't think they're coming out," she said.

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**henh henh henh... Emmett's so funny :D**


	26. The Great Escape

**I kinda like this chapter... well the last part anyway... the first part is kinda weird in my opinion, but oh well.**

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I finished cleaning myself and exited my very large and extravagant bathroom. When we first built this enormous palace, I wasn't sure why we needed to put in a bathroom, but after our first feeding, I finally got a glimpse of what Aro was thinking.

Too bad that didn't work all the time. Too bad his power was only one way. Too bad I had to stay in this insane Vampire Mafia. Too bad Chelsea had that power that, unfortunately, keeps me here. Too bad-

"Marcus!!!" I heard Emmett scream my name and pound on the door, interrupting my usual brooding thoughts.

"Yes, Emmett?" I sighed as I opened the door.

"You have two seconds to tell me that Carlisle was lying!" he said as he grabbed the collar of my shirt.

"Carlisle was lying. Please, let me go," I said as I rolled my eyes. Emmett let me go but he didn't look convinced.

"I mean, how could they possibly be back home? They wouldn't go there of their own accord. Rachel definitely wouldn't and Edward's got his own love so I'm pretty sure he wouldn't leave either," Emmett said more to himself than to me.

"Who is Edward's love?" Rosalie asked as she entered my room.

Emmett smiled. "The library." This made Rosalie laugh for a second but soon she was back to a serious mood, though it held a hint of worry hidden on the surface of her beautiful face.

"Well," I started before I was interrupted by a rather high voice.

"Marcus!" Sulpicia called from the hallway before running into my room.

"Sulpicia," I greeted coldly.

"And what about me, brother Marcus?" Athenodora asked as she leaned against the doorframe.

"And you, too, Athenodora," I could hear the vile in voice and apparently so did Emmett and Rosalie for their faces were covered with confusion, much like Carlisle's.

"Sulpicia? Athenodora? Why haven't we met them before?" Rosalie asked me.

"And how are you, Marcus?" Athenodora asked, completely ignoring Emmett and Rosalie, as she walked into the room.

"Peachy," I replied dryly. "Hm… it's odd. I'm fairly sure that becoming a vampire is supposed to make you beautiful, but the venom that injected you must have been faulty. It seems that you look as plain as ever."

"Oh, now let's not fight," Sulpicia said, cheerfully giving me a hug. I could see that Emmett and Rosalie still didn't understand what was going on so I would introduce the unwelcome guests.

"Emmett, Rosalie. This is Athenodora," I pointed to her, "And this is Sulpicia," I added as I worked on prying Sulpicia off of me.

"You're not even going to say why were here? How boring you are, Marcus," Athenodora said disappointedly. "Anyway," she continued, "I am Caius's wife. Sulpicia is Aro's. It's a pleasure to meet you." She didn't sound very pleased.

Rosalie looked furious at Athenodora's first statement and Emmett just looked infuriated. He probably would have attacked her if a certain someone hadn't came in first.

"Marcus?" Caius called. Ah, that was right. I was supposed to meet Caius in the library and I had never before been tardy to a meeting. I may be a bored vampire but I was definitely not rude. Caius must have known something was wrong and came to investigate.

Emmett must have been so absorbed in his anger that he wouldn't even wait to find out what was happening because he immediately pounced on Caius and started hitting him. Not with as much force as he did for Alejandro, but still, I would think it would be unpleasant for Caius.

"Emmett!" Carlisle shouted. He must have followed Caius in. I idly wondered where Aro was before Carlisle motioned for me to help break the two fighters apart. It definitely wasn't easy to get Emmett away but since Caius was trying not to hurt Emmett that made it a little easier.

Eventually we were able to pin Emmett to the wall but it took some effort.

"How the hell could you be _married_ and _not_ tell my sister? What kind of man are you? And where has she been all this time? Rachel trusts you!" Emmett shouted, still struggling against our grip. Rosalie just stood where she last was. If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought she was a statue. I hoped she wouldn't start a fight either because Carlisle and I couldn't handle both of them. Not Emmett's strength and Rosalie's fiery passion combined. They truly did make a fearsome couple.

"I thought she was dead," Caius replied.

"Thought. Hoped. Wanted her to be dead. Pick any one you like. I have plenty more," I added with my usual, bored voice.

"Hold on, now," Athenodora said bitterly. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

I realized I must take back my earlier statement. I may be a bored vampire but I was definitely not rude to those who don't deserve it. Athenodora was one of those who deserved it.

"It may be harsh, Athenodora, but it's true," I shrugged.

"Ah, good. You're all here," Aro said as he entered the room. Esme followed behind and immediately went to see if Rosalie was all right. Rosalie responded but wouldn't take her stare off Caius.

"Now would be an excellent time to explain," Emmett said with a deep, commanding voice as he stopped struggling. He was still tense and poised for action but at least he wasn't making it anymore difficult on Carlisle and I.

"It would be an excellent time, wouldn't it?" Aro mused. "Unfortunately, I don't know all the details myself, so this could be rather difficult."

"Then why don't you start with these two," Rosalie snarled as she nodded her head towards Athenodora and Sulpicia.

"Alright," Aro agreed. "Sulpicia was married to me when we were human--"

"We are still married, though, aren't we?" Sulpicia asked.

"I choose not to think so," Aro said nonchalantly. If we were talking to anyone other than these girls, I knew Caius would smack Carlisle for speaking to a woman without paying attention to her feelings. Sulpicia frowned but didn't press the matter.

"And Athenodora was married to Caius when they were human. However, we all figured that the girls died a while ago and got over it quickly," Aro finished.

"They were arranged marriages," Caius explained. Emmett loosened up a bit but was still a little moody.

"And since you're here," Aro said to Athenodora as he stepped closer. She backed up as if she knew what was going to happen. But Aro was too quick and brushed his hand against her face for the briefest of seconds before she could back up completely.

Aro took a moment to sort out the multitude of thoughts before he commented.

"You're a deceitful, narcissistic, evil, little witch," he spat. She glared at him but must have known that she wouldn't win an argument and kept quiet. "Sulpicia, please come here," he said to Sulpicia in a kind voice. I wondered why he would call her over when Athenodora's thoughts would tell him if Sulpicia knew or not, but nevertheless, he lightly grasped her hand and frowned slightly.

He was about to comment but suddenly gasped, tensed up and fell to his knees. Caius hurried toward him to see if he was okay and Athenodora grabbed Sulpicia and ran. Carlisle and I immediately let go of Emmett and the three of us began to run after the two scheming women.

We were faster than them but I found that I was slowly beginning to feel weaker and the others were slowing down as well. Finally, all three of us collapsed at the same time. I became worried for once. Something was not right. There was no possible way that four vampires could all fall at the exact same time. Well, no possible way that I could think of anyway.

I heard Athenodora's cackling laugh become more distant until finally she was out of my hearing range. The farther away she ran, the more energy I recovered, though I knew it would be useless to try and follow her.

As we regained more energy, Demetri and Felix found us still kneeling on the floor and came to see what was wrong.

"Did you happen to see two vampires running that way?" I pointed in the direction of which the two had run off. "One had straight, dark blonde hair and the other curly black hair."

"Yes, we did," said Felix.

"Would you like me to follow them?" Demetri asked.

"Not yet," I replied. "Come with us," we turned to run back to the others.

"This has been a rather interesting night," Carlisle commented.

"Indeed," I replied. "And it's not over yet. I am still very interested in what Aro heard."

"Well, it had better be good," Emmett grumbled. "My siblings are missing and I _will_ find out what's going on."

"You won't have to wait long, Emmett," Carlisle said as we came closer to my room and prepared to enter.

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**Normally i say 'please review' but this time i had better get reviews... not kidding... sorry if i sound mean but i've got a head ache from staring at the computer for too long and i had planned on going to bed 2 1/2 hours ago... be happy that i got this out... review... that's an order!**


	27. White Roses

**I was expecting this chapter to be longer, but i couldn't think of any way to make it longer... plus i'm tired (1:04 AM) oh well...**

**lemme know what you think of this!**

**Oh, and sorry about last time :D i was tired and in a bad mood so i was like 'rawr' ... yeah... :D**

**Thank you to all of you who reviewed!**

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The plane ride back was rather boring. Rachel seemed extremely agitated and even glared at me when I reiterated that she agreed to do this.

Needless to say, I was very happy when we exited the plane and were on our way to the extravagant Volturi mansion. However, my happiness was soon crushed when Rachel fidgeted in her seat almost the entire way there. It pained me to see my sister so unhappy, but I knew everything would soon be fixed.

When we arrived, Rachel refused to take her things out of the car until we talked to the rest of our family and announced our arrival. I thought she was overreacting but when she growled at me I changed my thoughts to something happy. That something was a single white rose lying on the ground.

It looked as though it had been carefully torn from its host plant and it was one of the most beautiful flowers of it's kind that I had ever seen. I wondered why someone would throw it on the ground after taking such careful measures as to pick out a brilliant flower and treat it with caution.

Rachel heard my idle thoughts and turned her attention to the flower. She picked it up and studied it. I took this opportunity to take out her suitcase and ran it to her room quickly. I was surprised I didn't run into anyone. When I returned, our other friends were still getting out their luggage and Rachel was still looking over the flower. She seemed a little disturbed.

"Is something wrong?" I asked. She looked at me with sad eyes.

"Why would he throw it on the ground?" she asked. Briefly, I wondered if anyone could possibly have been more vague but I was snapped out of my thoughts when she spoke again. "Heidi and Kathryn keep the flowers alive during the winter to help brighten up the garden. He said he doesn't know how, but I'm sure Esme would love to find out." She turned her attention back to the flower. "I told him white roses are my favorite." She must have been talking about Caius but I couldn't be completely sure. "This flower has been on the ground for a while now." she murmured to herself before falling silent again.

"Who threw it on the ground?" I was surprised how she could deduce so much from a single flower. Sometimes I just don't understand Rachel.

She looked up at me again. "Caius did. His scent is still on the flower. He must have been holding it for a while."

"Don't think about that right now. Maybe he threw it on the ground after we left," I suggested.

"Maybe," she replied thoughtfully.

"Are we ready?" Andrea asked once everyone had all the suitcases out.

"Yes," Rachel sighed. She glanced at the trunk of our car but thankfully it was closed. She didn't need to have a fit about me taking her suitcase back. Besides, she must have known that I left for a few seconds to do something.

She stared at the rose for a moment, trying to decide what to do with it. She made a move to set it down but changed her mind and held it close to her, fingering the petals gently.

"Ooh, a white rose!" Erin exclaimed. "But it's December!"

"Yeah," Rachel said, not really paying attention.

"It's beautiful. The perfect specimen," Venus muttered.

"It is, isn't it?" Rachel sighed. I could hear her secretly wishing that Caius had attempted to bring it, expecting her to say it was beautiful to which he could reply 'Non bello come lei' to make Rachel happy, but she quickly reprimanded herself for 'getting her hopes up.' I honestly don't know how anyone as smart as Rachel could be so oblivious.

"Why was it on the floor?" Michelle asked.

"I'm not sure. But I'm sure we'll find out soon," Rachel replied as she walked boldly toward to entrance.

'_Good job, Rach! See this isn't so bad, is it?'_ I asked her.

'_It'd be a lot better if you would stop cheering me on. It sounds… weird,'_ she replied. I smirked but complied.

"So," Jasper started. "What exactly are we going to do?"

"Wait! Don't tell me!" Alice said.

"Whatever you see, please keep it to yourself!" Rachel implored. "I don't want to know the outcome."

Alice nodded in understanding.

"But it would be nice to have a plan of action," Venus mentioned. This time it was Rachel's turn to nod.

"We're going to go in there and… and… Shoot! Edward what am I going to do?" Rachel panicked suddenly. We stopped and attempted to calm her down.

"Um, I don't know," I admitted.

"Well, why don't you ask him to tell you who Athenodora is and go from there?" Erin suggested. Edward and I looked at each other, stunned.

"That's a good idea, Erin," I said after a few moments. "Thank you!"

"I'm an expert at relationships!" she exclaimed with pride.

"Right," Michelle laughed.

"Just like that man George?" Andrea said teasingly.

"That doesn't count. That guy was a looser anyway," Erin pouted.

"It's okay, Erin," Rachel laughed. "You were the one who helped me with boys when we were humans, it only makes sense you would do the same now." This made Erin smile and we continued walking.

"Do you guys want to put your stuff in our rooms first?" I asked after a few moments.

"That would make sense," Venus nodded. We headed to our rooms and on our way, I could faintly hear Emmett's excited voice saying: 'I saw a suitcase! I saw a suitcase in Rachel's room!'

Rachel laughed. "So much for a surprise visit." We put all the suitcases in Rachel's room and headed to where we heard Emmett's voice.

Our family and hosts must have been eager to follow Emmett because we found them in the large red, white and gold room, walking in our direction. I figured that it was a good thing we were in this room since there were many places to sit and it was probably best to discuss this while sitting. Rachel preferred sitting anyway. It made her feel more comfortable and relaxed.

Everyone seemed excited to see us but no one was happier than Caius. He had a determined look on his face before he saw Rachel but as soon as his eyes met hers he immediately grinned and it looked as though a great load had been taken off of him.

Rachel looked to me for reassurance and I nodded to her. She turned back to face the group on the opposite side of the room but she didn't walk forward.

Caius was the first to speak and I was grateful that he did.

"Rachel!" he breathed.

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**Oh, another thing...I keep forgetting to mention some of the songs that i think would fit in nicely with this story...**

**"My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend" (i think it would be to describe Caius's thoughts on Laurent and Rachel :D i dunno who it's by though.), ****"A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton... and of course, when i finally remember to say all this, i forget what i think fits in with the story... I'm sorry!**

**And i like to listen to the songs "A Thousand Miles" by Vanessa Carlton, "Missing" by Evanescence, "My Girl's Ex-Boyfriend", "I will Follow You Into The Dark" by Death Cab For Cutie, "Don't Speak" by No Doubt, Almost anything by Within Temptation, and a bunch of other songs while i write. :D**


	28. She's Back

**I'm SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Sorry for the long wait. I have 4 reasons**

**1. Homework, ****2. lack of ideas, 3. I was out of town for my Grandpa's funeral, 4. Laziness XD**

**I hope you're not all mad at me... :D**

**Oh, and there's a bit of cursing in this chapter! It's not a lot, but if you have problems with cursing... just a heads up.**

**This is an important chapter!**

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"Rachel! Rachel!" I heard a familiar and annoying voice mock Caius. "Caius, why don't you tell her to leave?" Athenodora asked, trying to sound seductive as she stepped through the doors my group had entered a few moments ago. I growled involuntarily.

"Why don't you leave, bitch?" I spat at her.

"Did you just call me a bitch?" Athenodora asked, taken back. She looked really upset.

Ha! Not so high and mighty now, are you, Athenodora? A couple of mean names and you go back and pout.

'_Good job, Rach. Not only do you anger Athenodora, but you get Esme mad at you too. Nicely done,'_ Edward said. I looked at Esme and she did seem rather disappointed that I cursed but I'm an adult. Sort of. I should be allowed to say what I want even if it isn't lady like.

I smiled deviously at him but apparently Athenodora thought we were plotting.

She was about to say something before we heard a few more familiar voices.

"Athenodora, you said you and Sulpicia would meet us an hour ago. What happened?" Kathryn asked.

"You did say Kathryn's room, correct?" Alejandro asked as they stepped into the large room. They looked around and little O's formed on their lips simultaneously.

"Kathryn," Marcus started. "Have you and Alejandro been plotting with Athenodora and Sulpicia?"

"Of course not," Kathryn replied, smiling due to the fact that Marcus had said her name. "We've only been plotting with Athenodora. Sulpicia's too stupid to know what to do."

"Excuse me?" Sulpicia asked.

"Well, it is true," murmured Alejandro. All was quiet for a few moments before Alejandro spoke up again.

"Well isn't this convenient? All four of you are here!" he said, clasping his hands together.

"Four?" Athenodora asked. "Learn to count, Alejandro, there's only three that we're after."

"No, there's four," Alejandro grinned as he turned to face me. I growled again and this time so did Caius.

"Leave her alone!" Caius snarled. "Or did you not learn from the last two experiences?"

"Why don't we leave it for Rachel to decided?" Alejandro sneered and immediately I felt his seductive force.

I was prepared to feel something, but I wasn't prepared for this. This time, the feelings were much stronger. It was like a thick, invisible cloud surrounding me. It choked me until I felt nothing- nothing but the urge, the desire to be closer to Alejandro.

I was somewhat aware of what was occurring around me but I ignored most of it. My only goal was to reach Alejandro. Just being near him would give me the greatest pleasure.

My feet began to move forward on their own accord as my mind was busy concentrating on other things, but a strong hand grasping my arm stopped me. I did my best to drag the hand's owner with me but more hands joined and pulled me further away from my destination.

"Rachel!" I heard a masculine voice call out. I suddenly felt a burst of hatred. Immediately, my thoughts and feelings towards Alejandro turned to disgust. Every feature that I believed beautiful and perfect in every way seemed to transform into disfigurations.

"Come on, Rachel! Stand up, you're fine," a feminine voice pleaded. My vision rapidly returned to normal and I realized I was sitting down, five familiar faces surrounding me.

"What was that?" I asked as I shook my head in a natural response to my abruptly clear sight. I glanced around the room and when my eyes met Alejandro's again, the loathing surged again.

"I changed your emotions from love to hate," Jasper answered through clenched teeth. He hastily calmed himself- and myself by extension- down. "The two have such a fine line between them, it wasn't difficult to overcome even Alejandro's power."

"How do you know it was his?" Venus asked curiously.

"I sense a lot of lust in him," Jasper shrugged casually. "Using that, I logically deduced it was his doing." Alice stared at him and shook her head.

"You've been reading too many detective novels," she laughed. Just over her tinkling giggle, we heard a loud crash and lots of shouting. I returned my line of vision to where Alejandro had been standing a few moments ago.

Alejandro had backed up a few paces and was fighting Caius and Edward, although apparently, they weren't the only ones fighting. Athenodora and Sulpicia were busy trying to keep Felix and Demetri away while Rosalie and Emmett were busy taking all their anger out on Kathryn. I wondered where Marcus and Aro had gone but I saw that they were busy blocking every exit along with Carlisle, Michelle, Venus, and the rest of the Volturi guard.

"Easy now, Rachel," Esme said trying to hold my shoulder down. "The last few times didn't work out so well, did they?"

"Maybe third time's a charm," I replied with a smirk as I sat up, gently taking Esme's hand off my shoulder.

"What happened last time?" Andrea asked as she took my hand and helped me stand up completely.

"I passed out both times Alejandro tried to seduce me," I replied. "Erin," I said as I turned to face her. "That guy," I pointed to Alejandro, "tried to pull a Laurent. He doesn't really love me. He just wants to use me for what he wants."

"What a looser," she eyed him with disgust.

"Exactly my thinking. So why don't we team up again and this time, fight him with fists instead of words like we used to? For old times' sake?" I grinned.

"I was about to ask you the same thing," she smirked. "Great minds think alike, I guess," she said. I laughed. That was our old phrase from when we were humans.

We turned in unison to face Alejandro and walked forward. Luckily we had a clear path to get to him since the other brawls had moved closer to the walls.

"Hey, Asshole!" Erin shouted. I turned to give her a quick look. She didn't curse often. I wasn't the only one surprised. All fights in the room stopped immediately and everyone stared at us. "No one is allowed to mess with my Rachel expect for me and Emmett!" She yelled before punching him in the face.

"Nice one," I said as I watched Alejandro stumble backwards in surprise.

"Thank you," she smiled. "I've been working on it," she added before she and I returned our attention to Alejandro and continued Caius and Edward's fight. Edward and Caius shrugged before joining in on the fight and Emmett soon followed their lead.

It didn't take long for us all to overtake Alejandro. One against five doesn't stand much of a chance.

"I'll say it again," Caius started as he glared at Alejandro. "Stay away from my girlfriend!" I knew that I was still mad at him but I couldn't help but do a little happy dance on the inside. Caius called me his girlfriend!

"Oi!" I heard Demetri call out. Demetri had Sulpicia in his grasp but his attention was focused on Felix who had started to come and attack him. Demetri dodged Felix's attack while managing to still keep his hold on Sulpicia.

"Oh, no you don't!" Andrea and I said at the same time as I focused on 'suggesting' to Felix that he should go attack Athenodora, who was trying to get a way, and Andrea focused on trying to get Felix to see that he should attack Athenodora because that's what Andrea thought he should do.

Felix stopped immediately and winced slightly.

"Oops," Andrea and I said as we looked at each other and laughed. I stopped pressuring Felix and allowed Andrea to continue.

"Great minds think alike, I guess," Erin laughed.

I noticed that Emmett and Rosalie had successfully captured Kathryn so I decided to help Felix chase down Athenodora.

I took a few steps I immediately felt tired. It was almost exactly like the last time Alejandro 'seduced' me.

"I guess the third time isn't a charm," I yawned as I stumbled back over to Erin, Caius, Edward, and Alejandro. Erin giggled.

"I've never seen a sleepy vampire," Erin snickered as she grabbed my arm in order to keep me from falling.

As soon as her hand touched me, I felt more alert and instantly stood up.

"Whoa," I said as I stared at her hand. I gently removed it and walked away again. A few steps later, I the tiredness came back and Erin came over to revive me.

"That's so neat!" She exclaimed. "I'm like electricity to you!"

"Yeah… it's so weird," I murmured. We were silent for a moment before hearing Felix shout something and were snapped back to reality.

"Want to catch another looser?" I asked, already knowing Erin's answer.

"I was afraid you'd never ask! Let's go!" She shouted and we ran and tackled Athenodora to the ground, tripping Felix in the process so we all landed in a pile of vampires.

"ARGH!" Athenodora screeched. It's a good thing vampires' ears aren't hurt by loud noises. "Get. Off. Of. Me!" She shouted and struggled to get out from under us.

"I don't think so," I said before 'suggesting' that she stay still and not try to get away before she could force me to let her go or take away all of my self control. "Okay, guys. You can get up now," I said to Felix and Erin. They didn't respond. "Uh… guys?"

"Hi," Erin said as she stared into Felix's bright red eyes. They must have recently found more prey. When I left, everyone's eyes were black.

"Hi," Felix copied. They're hooked now. I felt that I should have somehow seen this coming.

"Great," I muttered to myself. "Is that all you two can say? 'Hi?' Come on. At least Caius said something cute."

"You don't think 'hi' is cute?" Erin asked, though she wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. She was too busy starting at Felix.

I sighed and pushed the two off of me and stood up, taking Athenodora with me. "Okay, Miss Bitch, we're going to sit you right here," I said to Athenodora- who looked completely lost now that I had messed with her mind-as I set her down in a chair, "and you're not going to get up until we say you can." As soon as I did I yawned. "Erin! Please stop flirting and get over here."

"What?" she asked as she grabbed Felix's- who must have stood up while I had my back turned- hand to stand up.

"Never mind," I muttered as I walked back over to her and linked her free arm with mine.

"So what are we going to do now?" Emmett asked as he repositioned Kathryn so it would be easier to hold her still.

"I say we burn them," Caius spat, staring at Alejandro. I could faintly hear Caius's thoughts although I still couldn't understand them.

'_Che che la disgustando creatura. Perché non lascerà il mio Rachel solo? Non l'ama come faccio. Spero appena che lei mi ama tuttavia…' _The first few sentences sounded disgusted, but the last one sounded unhappy. Why would he be unhappy?

"I can see why that would be a good idea," Marcus agreed as he glared at Kathryn. Kathryn attempted to glare back but she couldn't so she looked down shamefully instead.

'_Do you think she's really in love with him?'_ I asked Edward.

'_She probably is. I don't know how long she's been here, but she must have gotten the mission from Athenodora but fell in love in the process,'_ he replied.

'_Sounds like a good theory to me.'_ I considered the idea for a moment but I then remembered that Kathryn knew Carlisle and she could have had plenty of time to tell Marcus and then get married.

'_But Carlisle could have met her when he went to Europe a few years ago. Remember?'_

'_Huh. I remember him going to Europe but I thought he was going to Ireland to see Maggie, Siobhan, and Liam.'_

'_He could have stopped by to say hello to some other old friends,'_ Edward suggested.

'_We'll ask when we get the chance,'_ I promised. _'I still want to know how Aro didn't catch this.'_

'_Alright,' _Edward replied before returning back to the audible conversation that we had been missing.

"Well," Aro started before we heard a loud noise come from the main entrance to the room, which was completely blocked by a large couch and table.

Alice's face went blank for a moment. When she came out of her trance, she spoke quietly.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

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**So how was it? I spent a while working on this chapter so I'd appreciate some feedback!**

**Also, I should have a poll up soon. I want you all to tell me who you think is at the door! I already know who it is, but I might change my mind, so I'd llike to know what you all think! If I don't get the poll up, please just tell me in a review or PM**

**The choices are 1- The Romanian Coven (Stefan and Vladimir) 2- REAL Werewolves (not the shape-shifters like Jacob's pack) and 3- The Romanians leading the werewolves in an attack**

**Thanks to all who have stuck with this story! I know I'm not the best updater!**

**Oh, and I'm sorry for any grammar or spelling mistakes that have been happening throughout the story. I was going back and looking through some of the chapters and I found a few errors! argh!!! that's one of my pet-peeves!**


	29. Intruders

**OMG I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry for the wait!!! I was going to make this much longer, but I kinda got stuck... stupid writer's block. Plus I've been a procrastinator (Again, i'm so sorry!) and I've been watching CSI instead of writing or preparing for Exams. I never study for anything, but i figured i might at least _try_ to for once.... we'll see how that goes. Anyway, since Exams are next week and I think I'm going to be busy, I won't be able to update as soon as I'd like to. Maybe I'll try over winter break.**

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Everyone stood frozen for a few moments as they stared at the vibrating door. I was surprised it hadn't been broken already. I tried to pry into Alice's thoughts hut her mind wasn't on who was at the door. She was concentrating on fighting moves she knew.

"So it's going to be a fight?" I asked as Alice nodded, still staring at the door. I silently told Erin to stay near me as everyone else took the hint and prepared for attack.

Andrea made Kathryn, Alejandro, and Sulpicia used her talent to keep them near Athenodora where they wouldn't be any trouble and Alec readied himself to slowly incapacitate the attackers.

With a final blow, the door shattered into thousands of tiny splinters. The impact moved most of the furniture away from the door and dust flew into the air creating a thin layer of smoke like fluffy clouds. Next I heard a menacing growl that sent involuntary chills up my spine- something that hadn't happened since I was a human.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" A shadowed figure asked. His voice sounded like a rumbling growl. It was like nothing I had ever heard before.

The shadow emerged from the flying dust and I finally saw him. It was no wonder why I had never heard the same kind of voice before- this was a creature I had never _seen_ before.

'_Edward, what are they?'_ I asked.

'_I have absolutely no idea,'_ he replied in shock.

'_Werewolves,'_ Carlisle informed us. He must have seen the shocked looks on our faces.

More werewolves emerged and formed a blockade. They were interesting creatures to say the least. Very hairy and very large. They all had bright yellow eyes and sharp, pointy, white teeth that were shown when the leader smiled widely.

"What is your business here?" Aro asked, stepping forward. The werewolf chuckled with its deep voice.

"You're not even going to introduce yourselves? That's not very civil," he snickered.

"Funny," Caius sneered. "I wouldn't expect a werewolf know what 'civility' is."

"I said 'civil,' not 'civility,' you stupid vampire!" The werewolf shouted at Caius.

"It's the same thing, genius," Marcus sighed. "He probably doesn't know, Caius," Marcus said, turning to his brother with a rare but elegant smile. "He probably just heard the phrase somewhere and thought it sounded smart."

"How dare you!" I would describe the voice as feminine but it sounded to deep to be a woman's. Still, I guess it was more girlish than the first voice.

"Hush, Abila," the first werewolf said. "They will pay in due time," he cooed.

"I call the tall one with light eyes," another werewolf said menacingly.

"You touch my brother and you die," I laughed. They turned to look at me. "What makes you think you can beat him?"

"You may not know of us," the first werewolf said, "but we know of you. We know your weaknesses."

"Oh, we're so scared," said Emmett mockingly. For emphasis, he put up his hands as if he were about to defend himself and used a high voice.

'_Aro, how do you kill a werewolf?'_ I asked, making sure the werewolves wouldn't notice our silent conversation, though I probably failed.

'_Well, decapitating him and pulling out his heart, as the humans suggest, won't work, if that's what you're wondering,'_ he replied.

'_Ask him what will,'_ Edward told me. I relayed the question and Aro couldn't help but smile.

'_Well, I hope it won't come to violence, but as it seems that is impossible,'_ Aro started and then paused, probably for dramatic effect.

'_That sounds like something Aro would do,'_ Edward commented on my thoughts.

'_Our speed won't win this,'_ Aro continued_. 'They're every bit as fast as us, though not as graceful about it.'_

'_Aro? Not that this isn't important information, but…'_ I trailed off. I think the werewolves were getting suspicious due to the fact that Aro, Edward, and I weren't very good at keeping a poker face.

'_Right, of course. Well, the humans actually got something right on this one. Silver. Stab silver through its heart and his head, and he'll die.'_

'_Why silver?'_

'_Why not?'_

'_Fair enough,'_ I replied with a shrug.

"Why do you make those faces?" Abila asked.

"Because you're ugly," Rosalie rolled her eyes.

"If you get the big one, I get this blonde," Abila snarled to her friend.

"Should we allow the others to come in as well, Livius?" the third vampire asked.

"If you like, Amadeus," Livius replied.

"Why don't we skip the fight and you all go home?" Caius suggested with a snarl. "If you wish to keep your friends alive, I suggest you do as I say."

"It is you who should leave if you wish to survive," Amadeus snarled. "We won't fight if you give up your position willingly."

"Position? You mean our power?" Marcus asked. "What makes you think you can control this city, let alone the vampires?"

"Of course they couldn't if they wanted to," came another voice. This one wasn't a werewolf. His voice was too smooth and too soft to be a werewolf's.

"Oh, now, Stefan," came another unfamiliar vampire's voice. "Be nice to our pawns," he scolded.

"I can't help it if they're stupid," Stefan replied. The two came into view so I was finally able to get a good look at them.

The vampire named Stefan had jet-black fair and blood red eyes, just like Caius and Marcus, but the whites of his eyes were clearer.

"Of course we can't help it," the other smirked. "But we still should anger our pawns. Not when they're going to do our dirty work," he added.

The other vampire, whose name I had yet to learn, had ashy blonde hair. He wore the same thing as his friend- a completely black outfit that looked like an old, pre-medieval design.

"Agreed," Stefan.

"Now what do you two want?" Marcus sighed although he knew the answer.

"You know what we want," Stefan replied.

"Well you and Vladimir can leave," Aro replied forcefully. Vladimir. I wondered if he was _the Vladimir_ I remembered Carlisle and Edward telling me about when I first became a vampire. _The_ Dracula.

As the Volturi conversed with their old acquaintances, Erin and I quickly and sneakily, or at least I hope we was sneaky, wandered over to an enormous display case that held many prized gifts from the Medici family. I inhaled deeply and was pleased. It's not the easiest thing to find, but it's still detectable.

Silver.

'_What?'_ Erin asked. I forgot that I hadn't let her in on my plan and quickly did so.

'_Oh,'_ she replied. _'Makes sense, I guess.'_

I grinned, delighted that I remembered these were here. I hopped Aro wouldn't be too upset that I had decided to use them in combat. I mean they _were_ very valuable and they _were_ set specially aside for decoration.

'_What are you doing, Rach?'_ Emmett asked.

'_Silver,'_ I sang in my head.

'_Good find,'_ Edward cheered.

We grabbed a few daggers; careful to be quiet for fear that the werewolves would attack before I had the chance to grab something to defend myself. Quickly, we returned to our original position and handed a dagger to Edward, Emmett, and Rosalie. We didn't have much time to grab the weapons, but hopefully my family at least noticed and got the general idea.

'_These are just a precaution,'_ I told myself. _'Maybe everything will work out okay.'_

'_It's self defense, Rachel,' _Edward said to me gently. _'It's not senseless murdering, so you shouldn't feel so bad if you get one of them.'_

I nodded but couldn't form a coherent thought to reply. I was sickened by murder, which was probably one of the reasons why I couldn't bring myself to kill a human.

"Well, Amadeus," Vladimir said, bringing me back to reality. "Whenever you're all ready."

"You're too scared to fight?" Venus sneered.

"We prefer to watch," Stefan replied. "We don't like to fight personally."

"If we are harmed, who will run the new empire?" Vladimir added.

"So be it," Aro said as he poised himself for attack. The rest of us followed his lead as Amadeus motioned to Livius.

"Time for them to meet our friends," he said with a humorous growl. Livius and Abila smiled and briefly went out the way the came. They soon returned with a large amount of werewolves.

"Bring it on," Emmett murmured more to himself than to the werewolves. I smiled to myself before preparing myself for a fight, making sure to hold the dagger tightly in my hand.

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**It wasn't crappy, was it? I'm getting the feeling it was, but that's probably because i wanted to make it a lot better... i just felt bad about not updating sooner :D**

**anyway, I hope you liked it (even if i didn't XD) and please review!**

**Now, I'm off to day dream about CSI (my new 'addiction'). Horatio Caine is SO AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**P.S. I'm sorry if there were any errors in it... I didn't check over it like i did with most of the others... :D**


	30. Battle

**I hope you guys like this!! we had a snow day so i figured i'd try to write more of my stories :D i really need to work on Falling... heh, it's been a while...**

**Anyway, this is written in multiple POVs**

**Again, hope you enjoy... I got minor writers blocks through this, so if it feels like some parts are a little different, that's why.**

**It took me a couple hours to write this because of those stupid writers blocks, so i really hope you update!**

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-Rachel's POV- **Eh, I don't like this part so much, but whatever.**

I stared at the large pack before us. They looked pretty vicious. I just hoped I had enough mental strength to fight them. To stop them, we'd have to kill them. That's not something I'm prepared to do.

'_All right, Erin,'_ I started to say to her. _'Please stay near me. I won't do anyone any good if I'm passed out in the corner.'_ She gave a little giggle and nodded before returning her attention to the werewolves.

"Whenever you're ready, Amadeus," Stefan said, sounding almost exactly the same as when Vladimir told Amadeus to get the others. His voice sounded lazy but his eyes were crisp with excitement as were Vladimir's.

"Of course," Amadeus bowed. When coming back up he spun on his heel and gave a shout in a language I couldn't understand. The werewolves went into ready position and Amadeus shouted again. This time they leapt out of their positions and began their attack.

Edward gave me a mental signal and, when they were close enough, we threw our daggers out in the air, penetrating their chests. The smell that came next was something I wouldn't have even dreamed existed. It smelled putrid. I wondered why we didn't smell this before but when I looked down at the dagger that was still lodged in the werewolf's chest, I noticed that his blood was bubbling and turning various shades of green and brown.

"That's disgusting," Erin said, scrunching her nose in disgust. She stabbed another werewolf that was coming our way and the smell strengthened.

"Let's get this over with," I said quickly while stabbing another one. "The sooner we get them out of here, the better."

-Emmett's POV- **I think Emmett's kind of silly here XD **

A horrible smell quickly filled the room as soon as werewolf blood was spilt. I would have taken pride in taking down a werewolf, but unfortunately I couldn't. The stupid thing wouldn't die!

In the beginning of our fight, I was winning. I was just about to stab the thing in the chest but he knocked it out of my hands unexpectedly. I couldn't help but watch it as it flew across the room and was knocked into the corner near Kathryn and her friends. As I watched it fly, Livius took his chance and threw a bunch of punches my way.

Damn, he's a good fighter. I'll just have to be better.

Our fight went on for a couple more minutes until I got him in a headlock using my left arm to hold him down- I'm better at punching with my right hand. He struggled for a moment but then howled in pain and started to go limp.

Confused, I lifted him up and found a small cut on his neck where my wrist had been. I moved my line of vision to my arm and noticed my wrist watch. The light hit it just right so the ruby blood turned brownish-green and shone dully next to the silver part. Oh, right. My watch is made of silver.

I smiled to myself before going over to help Rose fight off another werewolf as she had easily killed Abila. Abila didn't look like a fighter anyway.

Together, we were able to take down this werewolf as easily as she had taken Abila down.

"Go fight others!" she shouted. She was probably angry that I was wasting time. I grinned at her annoyance and kissed her lightly on the cheek before following orders.

Time to kick some werewolf butts!

-Aro's POV- **heh Aro is funny when he's being a sadist.**

I smiled and hummed to myself as I killed a werewolf that was trying to attack Alec. I couldn't help but be thankful I had sent Renta away for a while. She would have made this so much less fun for me.

Another werewolf came toward us and I quickly stabbed it in the chest. The horrific smell rose again but I didn't mind it so much anymore. It just meant the werewolves were dying.

"Are you ready, Alec?" I asked, turning my head back slightly so I could see him in my peripherals.

"Almost," he replied with a smirk. I turned my head back only to find another werewolf pouncing toward me in mid air. He was a big one. I tried to bring my arms up to protect myself but I was too late and we were sent crashing into Alec and the large couch he was sitting on.

"Shit," I muttered to myself as I pushed the werewolf off and swiftly killed him. I watched as the bright, crimson blood turned to the disgusting color that looked like a puddle of muddy water.

"Sorry about that," I apologized to Alec as I slew another werewolf. "Do you need more time?"

"Yes," Alec replied coldly. "I'll do my best though," he added with a sigh. "But I need a few more minutes."

"You'll get them," I promised as I took another werewolf and stabbed him in the back. His howls lasted only for a few moments, but they were loud enough to pierce the already noisy room.

-Michelle's POV- **I feel like I haven't given her enough screen time- she's really cool so she deserves more of a part.**

I streaked through the room, killing the werewolves mercilessly. No body messes with my family. As I thought about this, I realized I felt like the Cullens were already family. I had only talked to Rachel, Edward, Alice, and Jasper, but they seemed to hold the rest of the Cullens in high esteem. Alice and Jasper hadn't even met the rest of their soon to be family and they would protect them to the death.

And then there was Erin and Rachel. They were already great friends and that was why we stopped by the Cullen residence in the first place.

And, of course, I couldn't forget the Volturi. Erin was a friend with Rachel who loves Caius, so the Volturi would definitely count as part of our family. Plus, I couldn't deny the attraction I noticed between Erin and Felix, Andrea and Marcus, and Venus and Aro. Whether the boys reciprocated those feelings, I wasn't sure, but my girls had definitely found love at first sight. It was way to obvious to ignore.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see an orange glow. It grew swiftly and I gasped. A fire. The werewolf was going to set a vampire on fire while the vampire's back was turned.

I dashed over there quickly and pulled the vampire away from the flame. He saw what had almost happened and, together, we set the werewolf on fire with his own match and then stabbed his neck with one of the silver daggers. His blood immediately put out the fire but it also gave off an even more wretched smell than before. It was almost like burning rubber mixed with a skunk's spray only worse.

"Thank you," the vampire said with the most beautiful voice I had ever heard. His eyes were captivatingly attractive and his face had more of an olive tone, which looked different since it was mixed with the normal chalky whiteness of a vampire, though he was still devastatingly handsome.

I mentally shook myself. What was that? I felt something in the pit of my stomach. No, now is not the time to worry about that.

"You're welcome," I smiled before turning around to find more werewolves.

I don't even know his name and yet…

-Emmett's POV- **I just love writing in Emmett's POV- his POV is split for a reason.**

About twenty minutes had passed since the fight first began and we had made excellent progress. We had killed almost all the werewolves, though the wins came with a price. A few of the Volturi guard had been killed in the fight. There were a couple of random spots of fire around the room and I could smell the light, sad scent of vampire burnings.

I looked around and found that there were very few fights left. In fact, two fights were finishing up as I watched which left just one left.

Carlisle and the male vampire Rachel and Edward brought with them- I think his name is Jasper- just finished up their last fight and went to find Esme and Jasper's wife, whose name I think is Alice.

Aro had just taken another werewolf down and then bent down to help Alec up. I wondered why Alec hadn't taken away everyone's senses since he had plenty of time, but after listening to his and Aro's conversation, I learned that he and Aro had been surrounded by many werewolves and accidentally let one get to Alec. Though Alec had been able to defend himself easily, it took his concentration away.

Amadeus must have taken refuge with Stefan and Vladimir and gone to fight later when he found the others couldn't fight as well as he could. He was fighting Caius and they were pretty evenly matched. As I had done earlier, Caius lost his dagger due to Amadeus snapping it out of his hand.

Caius seemed to be winning but when he was about to call someone over to stab the thing, Amadeus regained control and threw Caius to the ground. Caius tried to get back up but Amadeus put his foot on his chest and kept him down. I would have thought Caius could get up, but I must have misjudged Amadeus because he was unable to get up.

Amadeus laughed and pulled a slender object from his pocket. A lighter.

I started to go over so I could stop Amadeus from killing Caius but someone beat me to him. They were so fast I couldn't even see who it was until she securely latched herself onto him and knocked the lighter out of his hand.

"Get away from him, filthy dog!" Rachel shouted and used her body weight to pull Amadeus away from Caius.

Amadeus stumbled which allowed Caius to get up and grab his dagger.

"Get off of me!" Amadeus shouted as he tried to throw Rachel off of him. He had no luck and instead allowed Rachel to get a better grip on his neck. She quickly twisted his neck, breaking his spine. Whether this killed him or not, I'm not sure because Caius stabbed him in the chest immediately after.

Amadeus's low-pitched scream pierced the room, which had started to loose most of its noise, and he quickly slumped to the ground, leaving the room deadly silent.

Everyone stayed still for a few moments except for Caius and Erin, who both rushed toward Rachel. The silence remained until a giggle that sounded even prettier than wind chimes broke through the silence. I smirked. Rachel is the only person I know besides myself that would laugh to break up the silence.

"I didn't think vampires got adrenaline rushes," he said through giggles.

"Adrenaline rush?" Erin asked sounding confused. I knew exactly how she felt.

"Well, yes," Rachel started as she started to stand up. "When Amadeus-" she was cut off by a loud roar that put Amadeus's scream to shame. There must have been one we missed.

I turned around slowly and found Marcus looking at a werewolf in actual wolf form in surprise. The thing was bigger than any wolf I had ever seen. They were near where Kathryn and her friends were. I remembered my dagger was over there and glanced to where it landed, thinking Marcus could use it, seeing as how he discarded his other one after his last fight.

It wasn't there.

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**Eh... i wanted to add more to that last line, but when i did, it just took away something... oh well! leaves more of a cliffie i guess.**

**I also wanted to put in a little Caius and Rachel moment there, but it didn't feel right.**

**Two guesses as to what is going to happen! I'll let you know if one of your guesses is close!**


	31. Infatuation

**I AM SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT!!!**

**I wasn't really sure how I wanted to write this and I only had the first two lines done when I put up the last chapter. I also wanted to makes sure that I was happy with what I was about to write so I was thinking about that for a while.**

**I would give you more excuses such as Writer's block and school and all that crap but i'm sure you're all tired of hearing that.**

**So, I hope you like this chapter!! I had to force myself to sit and write it.**

**Disclaimer (just because i think i should add one): I own nothing that you recognize... lol i don't even own some of the characters that aren't in the Twilight realm just because they're based off of real people XD**

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-Rachel's POV

I was shocked when I saw the gigantic werewolf come up behind Marcus. I thought Caius and I got the last one.

That was a nice thing to think. Caius and I. It had a nice ring to it.

Andrea gasped softly and ran toward Marcus but Michelle stopped her, fearing Andrea would be hurt. I knew how Andrea felt. I knew how she could love him before she had been introduced. It was the same for me with Caius. I smiled briefly to myself then began to work on a strategy to get rid of the werewolf.

-Marcus's POV

I looked up and flinched. This thing has seriously got to start taking better care of his mouth. Its mouth smelled horrible which made me cough involuntarily. My cough caused the werewolf to roar loudly but I wasn't impressed. I'm pretty sure my face showed my disinterest.

"Is that supposed to scare me?" I asked the giant wolf thing. "It's not working," I commented. The werewolf growled as I looked down at my sleeve and pulled a wolf hair from it.

"Do it, Viktor," Stefan urged the wolf as he and Vladimir went to guard the area where the werewolf and I were located. I chuckled quietly to myself, knowing that they wouldn't be able to stop all of the other vampires from coming to help me. They had somewhat of an advantage, seeing as how there were piles of werewolf bodies and destroyed furniture blocking them from me, but not even the best fighters could take on the Volturi guard plus our guest covens.

"Quickly, Viktor," Vladimir added. "The sooner this is over, the sooner your are repaid." The werewolf looked toward the two vampires and then back to me with a murderous glint in his eyes. I readied myself for attack as Viktor did the same.

Once Viktor was ready, he immediately pounced and knocked me off my feet. I felt he deserved a commendation seeing as it's not easy to throw me off balance but I pushed that thought away. There was a werewolf on top of me, ready to kill, and there was no time to congratulate him.

I kicked Viktor in where I figured his groin would be and received a loud, unhappy roar, telling me I had guessed correctly. With Viktor's attention on his pain, I was able to squirm out. I took this chance to look at Stefan and Vladimir and realized that they _were_ good fighters, but they couldn't keep the others away for long. Even now, Jane and Heidi were sneaking past an unguarded path that led straight to me.

The werewolf recovered quickly and charged toward me. I was able to dodge his attack but he turned around faster than I expected and tackled me. He took a bite at my arm and I immediately felt pain as his teeth dug their way into my supposedly impenetrable skin. I winced and tried to throw him off with my other arm but I had no success.

He released my arm and licked his lips. I looked down at my arm and saw a thick, clear-ish, sweet smelling substance dampen my shirtsleeve. Venom, perhaps? But how?

I looked back up just in time to see the werewolf prepare himself to bite my neck. I struggled but instantly realized escape was impossible. What a pathetic way to die. I sighed inwardly and awaited the pain that was sure to come.

But it didn't. Instead, the werewolf went limp and fell on top of me. The foul smell of werewolf blood touching silver came and my nose scrunched up immediately. Disgusting.

The werewolf was pushed off of me and I looked up to see who had done it.

-Rachel's POV

Marcus stared down at Kathryn and Kathryn looked up at Marcus. Marcus's face was filled with confusion and the pain of betrayal. I couldn't blame him. He was confused because Kathryn was supposed to be on Athenodora's side but she just killed the wolf that would have otherwise taken Marcus's life, if you could call it a life, away. He felt betrayed because all this time he thought he could trust her with everything. He had even felt something resembling love for her.

"Marcus," Kathryn said softly, a smile forming on her face when she spoke his name. I frowned in disgust, knowing that she was going to lie to him. "I'm sorry. I never meant to follow Athenodora but when she promised me I'd have you as a mate, I couldn't pass her up." Okay, so that part, she wasn't lying. But she most definitely wasn't sorry. I wanted to speak up but Edward stopped me. I looked up to him with a questioning glance but he just grinned and motioned for me to watch.

'_This is why I should have learned to speak Italian,'_ I thought to myself as I turned back to face Marcus.

Marcus stood up to look down at Kathryn and smiled. Marcus… smiled? Did that mean he believed her? How could he? It was obvious that she was lying!

'_Just watch,'_ Edward told me.

I did so and focused my hearing in Marcus's direction to be sure I wouldn't miss anything. I frowned and hoped that Marcus wouldn't make a mistake.

"Is that really something you want me to believe?" Marcus asked as he took a step back.

"You mean you don't believe me? Why not?" Kathryn asked as she started to take a step closer to Marcus.

Before she had the chance to take her first step, Marcus slapped her with his good arm. The sound was sharp and sounded like it hurt. Kathryn's head snapped to the side but she quickly regained her posture, her face in complete rage.

"Marcus, don't be a wife beater," Caius sighed next to me. It took all I had not to laugh, but I was able to control myself when I decided now was definitely not the time to laugh. Oh how I had missed Caius.

"She is _not_ my wife. Aro, what do you want to do with her and the others?" Marcus asked, turning toward Aro.

"Well, we should probably- Stop!" Aro stopped mid sentence to shout at Vladimir, Stefan, Alejandro, Athenodora, and Sulpicia who were all trying to slip past us and escape. "You are not done here!" Aro shouted at them as he walked toward them and pulled Athenodora and Sulpicia back over to where we were. Carlisle brought the boys over and gestured for them to take a seat in one of the few remaining sofas.

"As I was saying," Aro began. He looked as if nothing had happened. "We should probably burn them to keep them from making another attempt to take over."

"That sounds like a good idea," Marcus said as he dragged Kathryn over to stand by her friends. "Caius?"

"It _is_ the best choice," he agreed. I did my best to hide my outward reaction, but I was still horrified that Caius could agree with something so vile.

'_Rachel, you knew that they made decisions like this before we even came her,'_ Edward reminded me.

'_Yes, but that was different. They never made decisions like this in front of us before,'_ I replied.

"But, Caius," Athenodora started.

"Quiet," Caius commanded forcefully. "You tried to take Rachel away from me and dragged Edward into your plot. You're not going to get away so easily."

"Caius," I said, not able to listen to this anymore. "I'm back now. Edward and I are fine. Is this really necessary?" It wasn't that I didn't want Athenodora to be punished, but I couldn't watch her die.

Caius was about to say something but Aro cut in. "Yes. It is necessary. They could come back and it would be a never-ending cycle. It's easiest this way."

Carlisle was about to say something, but before he was able to, Stefan pulled something out of his pocket and threw it to the ground, which resulted in a huge cloud of black smoke. There was a lot of shouting as we all ran to stop them from escaping and everything was chaotic.

The smoke cleared a few moments later and Erin and I stepped back to look over the scene. Aro still had his grip on Athenodora and Sulpicia and Marcus still had Kathryn. Carlisle had been able to grab Alejandro but had also grabbed Edward, who had Emmett and Marcus, when he came in to help. Caius had Carlisle and Jasper in his grip and Felix and Demetri had grabbed Aro and Marcus.

"Okay, now that's just confusing," said Erin as she gave up trying to decide who had grabbed whom.

If Stefan and Vladimir had not been missing, I would have laughed at the sight before me. I looked everywhere for the two missing vampires but couldn't find them. I frowned and Erin sighed. She hadn't been successful in locating them either.

We walked back into the crowd of vampires who had reorganized themselves.

"Is anyone missing?" Emmett asked.

"Stefan and Vladimir," I said in a half sigh.

"Demetri can track him later," Aro said. "We have business we need to take care of."

"Right, well, um," Edward began, feeling uncomfortable. "We're going to take our bags up to our rooms," he said. "Jasper, ladies," he motioned us to where he had put our bags.

"I'm surprised they're still there," Alice laughed as she went to grab her suitcase.

"I thought I told you to leave mine in the car," I scowled as I grabbed mine.

"Well, I figured you'd want it, so I brought it," he smirked. I scowled and walked out of the room, the others following me.

"We'll just put your things in our rooms," I muttered to Alice, Jasper, and the Rostell coven.

We walked to the rooms in relative silence. I opened my door with practiced motions and set my suitcase on the bed. Edward, Alice, and Jasper put their things in Edward's room as the Rostell coven set their things down in mine.

I looked around and sighed. My room looked really messed up. There weren't any personal possessions since Athenodora and Kathryn had taken those away, but the drawers were all out of place and on the floor.

"This is a _very_ nice place," Andrea commented in awe. I chuckled to myself.

"That's exactly what I thought when I first came here," I replied. "So how long to you think it will take them to… to, um… take care of things?" I asked Edward as he, Jasper, and Alice entered the room. I couldn't bring myself to say what they were doing there. It was horrifying and I was upset with myself for seeing the logic in their decisions.

"Not long," I heard Emmett say from behind me. I looked behind to find that Emmett, Rosalie, Esme, and Carlisle had followed us.

"They did deserve it," Rosalie commented, knowing that I disapproved of the Volturi's actions.

"I know, but still…" I trailed off. I shook my head as if to release myself from any unwanted thoughts. "But for now, would anyone like a tour?"

Venus nodded. "That sounds like a good idea," she agreed as my family started to lead the way to give the tour.

Michelle motioned for me to stay back and I complied.

"Who was the one vampire…" she trailed off, picturing him in her head. I couldn't help but give a little laugh.

"That was Demetri," I answered. She nodded curtly without showing emotion, which just made me laugh again. "Don't worry. I know exactly how you feel," I told her as I thought of when I first saw Caius's picture. "Just get to know him before you become infatuated with him," I said, quoting Edward.

"Infatuated?" Michelle asked feeling bewildered.

"Infatuated," I nodded with a smile. "Otherwise, Edward is going to laugh at you," I warned and she smiled.

"I'll try," she said, "but I might not succeed," she added. We laughed together and ran to catch up with the others.

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**Please Review, even though i totally don't deserve it!! I'd really like to know what you think because i've been loosing faith in my writing skills!!**

**Also, i'm sorry for all the previous mistakes and mistakes in this chapter!! they're my pet peeves so i get really irritated when i find them and it's too late!**


	32. Forgiven

**Hey guys!! i am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY for the long wait... please don't throw bricks... **

**Anyway, this is kinda short and i feel bad especially since i made you all wait so long, but i think you'll like it :D**

**sorry if some of it is poorly written... i had to keep stopping since i had a lot of writer's block. but i FINALLY got it done! i finished it just a few minutes ago! -happy dance-**

**btw, this chapter was called Sorrow, but i changed my mind after i finished this... i wasn't going to put the make-up scene in here, but it just kinda came out... i was gonna try and do more stuff with the Rostell coven, but then i started missing the Rachel x Caius stuff... i think that's why i've had so much writer's block with this for the past few chapters (i don't even want to think about how long putting up those chapters took)- it's because Rachel and Caius haven't been together!! Also, Breaking Dawn made me furious with Caius so i've been debating what I'll do for sequels if i make them. We'll just have to wait and see! I was going to make it where Caius and Rachel get into a fight during Breaking Dawn but as soon as i write about how sweet Caius is, i start to wonder how they could EVER get into a fight.**

**okay, now i'm probably keeping you from the story... if you waited long enough to read this xD**

**I don't own anything but Rachel, Caius's Adorableness (since he's such a meanie in the real series) and anything you don't recognize- except for Venus, Michelle, Andrea, and Erin... those are all real people and i don't own them.  
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**And now i present to you, the chapter of cuteness!  
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**Forgiven**

We walked around the enormous Volturi palace for an hour or so and then everyone split off into different directions. My family went to their room, Alice and Jasper went to walk in the courtyard with Erin, Andrea, and Michelle while Venus and I decided to sit in the library and just talk.

We started talking about all the places we had lived and I discovered Venus's exciting past.

Venus had been born in ancient Rome, not far from where we were now, and was named Venus after the Greek goddess since her parents had prayed to her during the pregnancy, trying to insure their daughter would grow up to be the most beautiful girl in Rome so the emperor might fall in love with her and she would have a secure future.

Eventually the emperor did fall in love with her but, unfortunately, the emperor was married to a jealous woman named Traiana. When Traiana's servant told her about the emperor's unfaithfulness, Traiana got upset and hired a vampire to get rid of Venus. The vampire bit her in her sleep and when she woke back up, she found people crowding around her with frightened eyes. Her first breath of air brought the irresistible scent of human blood and she attacked half the people in the room, including Traiana and the emperor's youngest son. The emperor was so scared, he ordered his guards to attack her and she ran away, afraid of what she had become. After leaving Rome, Venus traveled around Europe, looking for others like her. In Rome, she found Michelle and they had been friends ever since.

She and Michelle have lived in many of the European countries and in almost all of the states in the United States. It was amazing to hear some of the stories she told but eventually she wanted to know more about Aro. I smirked inwardly. The Rostell coven was falling head over heels for various members of the Volturi. At least I wasn't the only one.

"He's a very nice and funny man," I said. "He's the leader of the Volturi along with his brothers, Marcus and Caius." Venus must have noticed the difference in my voice when I mentioned Caius because she grinned and started telling me how cute Caius and I were together. I merely sighed and continued talking about Aro so she might drop the topic.

Luckily she did. She let me talk about Aro for a while before we went outside to take a walk.

All the snow had vanished which allowed the flowers to shine brightly against the wet grass. The grass was a lovely shade of green. They must use vampire venom. That's the only thing I could possibly think of that would keep the plants alive. I wonder if they ever had humans come around and question them on the quality of their plants.

"Hey, what was outside your window?" Venus asked me. The question was so random and caught me off guard.

"Pardon?"

"The view from your window," Venus explained. "The one where we put all our stuff."

"Oh, the courtyard. Would you like to see it?" Venus nodded and I smiled. "Right this way," I said as I started walking to the courtyard.

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The beauty of the courtyard amazed Venus. I couldn't blame her. Who wouldn't be stunned? I know I was when I first saw it.

"Look there's Edward and Andrea," Venus pointed out. I looked over and saw the two vampires who seemed to be debating the war's importance. I waved to them and they came over.

"Do you like the place?" Edward asked Venus. Venus nodded and went into great detail about what she liked. I tried to pay attention, but I couldn't help but feel that someone was watching us. I turned to look over my shoulder. I didn't see anyone but I was thrown to the ground when a particularly hyper vampire ran to give me a hug.

"Alice! What was that for?" I tried to act annoyed, but I failed miserably. Who could possibly hate Alice? I hadn't known her for long, but it felt like we were already sisters.

"You're so cute," she squealed. Alice removed herself from my body and took her place next to Jasper when he came near us.

"And what makes you say that?" I asked. I had a feeling she wasn't talking about my appearance since vampires were usually never classified as 'cute'. I attempted to search her mind to find out what she was talking about but instead she thought about a white rose.

"Is that supposed to mean something?" I asked. She didn't answer, choosing to walk away with Jasper.

"Ladies," Edward said, addressing Venus and Andrea. "Why don't I show you the library. Rachel, we'll see you later," he said with a sly smile as they walked off.

"Edward! What on Earth is going on?" I shouted after him. He just kept walking away, turning his head only to smile at me again. I started to go after him but decided against it.

They obviously left me here for a reason. But why?

"Rachel?" Oh. Maybe that's why.

When I heard Caius's voice, my knees started to feel weak and I felt lighter than air. I began to wonder how I could have possibly ever been upset with him. I had definitely been overreacting.

I turned around to see Caius standing a few feet away, keeping his distance incase I was still mad at him. I felt a pang of guilt. I had _really_ been overreacting.

"Caius," I replied with a nervous smile. Neither of us spoke for a few moments. I couldn't understand why he was nervous. He should know that I was overreacting. It's I who should feel uncomfortable.

I immediately felt calm and my nervousness vanished. I grinned and looked to the pathway on the other side of the courtyard in the direction that Jasper and Alice had walked off. Jasper and Alice were walking by as if nothing had happened.

"Thank you, Jasper," I called to him. He glanced my way and gave a little nod accompanied with a smile before he and Alice vanished into the darkness.

"What was that?" Caius asked. He looked less tense than before and I smiled.

"Jasper has the ability to manipulate emotions," I explained.

"So that's why I feel peaceful," Caius smiled.

"He did the same to me too," I smiled back. Caius's smile grew as he leaned in and kissed my cheek. My smile turned into a grin as he pulled away. A forced calmness may not be the natural way to mend a conflict but it sure made things much easier.

"Caius," I sighed, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"No, I'm sorry," Caius interrupted. "I think maybe if I had told you about… her… then you would have understood. You had every right to be upset."

"No, I didn't," I disagreed, "I shouldn't have assumed the worst. I should have-"

"Should have what?" Caius asked. "Rachel, Athenodora forced you to go back to the United States. You didn't have a choice."

"I know," I replied. "But I shouldn't have been that upset. I didn't even want to come back! The only reason why I came back was because I refused to let Athenodora choose where I should be and I wanted to drag my family back home."

"But you're here now," Caius said softly. "And that's all I care about. I don't care if you hate me," I tried to interrupt but he shushed me and continued on. "As long as you're here, I don't care about anything else."

I swear if I were human I would be drowning in tears. Caius was so sweet! I didn't deserve this after what I assumed and here he was, staring into my eyes and subtly begging me to love him back. He didn't need to beg. In fact, I should be the one begging, not him. **(AN: sorry, guys… I have problems with past and present tenses so this chapter is probably sounds really weird, but when I tried to fix it, it just sounded worse… SORRY! :D)**

I didn't know what else to say. How could I say anything that would express how happy his words made me? So I decided to kiss him instead. Just a quick kiss on the lips. A quick kiss that said all the things that a kiss can possibly say. I'm not really sure what made me do it, but I'm glad I did. I had to stand on my tip-toes just to reach him, but I'm glad I kissed him. I felt better after I did.

Caius grinned and took my hand. He tugged lightly on it, asking me to follow him so I did. We walked out of the courtyard and onto a familiar little path that was designed for a maximum of two people.

My smile grew and I felt nothing short of pure, indescribable bliss.

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**Was that a good ending (for that chapter- don't worry. it's not over yet!)?**

**i didn't know how i wanted to word that last sentence but whatever.**

**Hope you enjoyed it!! you better have because i probably should have been working on one of my two papers i have in school right now!**

**Please review, even if i don't deserve it!**

**Invisible cookies to all those who review (and remind me, since i'll forget about the cookies thing)**

**P.S. Has anyone seen Moonlight? i just watched a couple of episodes recently and Mick is AWESOME!!! I can't remember who told me about Alex O'Loughlin (spelling?) but who ever it is, thank you for pointing out that series!! My friend and i like it a lot, even if we haven't seen much of it!  
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	33. Wedding

**Hey guys!! I'm SOOO sorry that this took FOREVER to put up... I just wasn't really sure how to end it (I've never Actually ended a long story on my own before) and I wish this could have been better (and longer) but this is what I cam up with. I hope you like it!!**

**There's one last 'chapter' but its really short.. its like... 400 words long or so :D I'll post it right after this one!**

**Disclaimer: the only thing I own is Rachel... seriously, that's it... I don't own any other characters-- not Erin, Michelle, etc, no one!!**

**Again, I hope you like it and PLEASE REVIEW!!! You can review after the next 'chapter' if you want but PLEASE REVIEW!  
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I smiled to myself as Rosalie, Esme, and Alice all hovered around me, fixing each strand of hair on my head. I felt nervous but very excited at the same time. I wasn't sure if this day would ever come.

A few days after Caius and I were reunited, he proposed to me. And now, a week after he proposed, we were getting married. Sure, it may not be the normal way things are done, but neither of us could be wait to be pronounced husband and wife.

"Ready?" Erin asked as she bounced around the room, very excited to be a bridesmaid in my wedding.

I took a deep breath and smiled. "I think so."

"Okay, Emmett, you can come in now," Erin called to him. Erin and Emmett hadn't hung out a lot when we were all still human, but now that they had time to get everything ready for the wedding, they became very close friends.

The door opened and Emmett whistled. "Dang, Rose," he laughed. "You certainly know how to make my sister look good." I stuck my tongue out at him and Alice pouted.

"I'm the one who told her what to do!" Alice protested. I patted her shoulder and smiled at her. I murmured my thanks to her and turned to face my brother.

"Ready to give me away?" I asked with a laugh.

"No, I am not," Emmett said but he held out his arm anyway. "But I guess I have no choice," he added with a wink.

They heard Edward's piano playing and the girls scurried to get into place. Esme ran to take her seat in the audience and Rose, Alice, and Erin formed a line, preparing to walk out before Emmett and I.

As they began the procession down the hallway and out into the courtyard where the ceremony was, I began to feel even more nervous than before. Emmett noticed and squeezed my hand.

"Don't worry," Emmett chuckled. "Everyone gets nervous. Just think about Caius," Emmett suggested as we began to walk down the hallway. I took another deep breath and we walked out the doors leading to the courtyard.

The courtyard was beautiful. Even more so than usual. But I didn't spend much time awing over the decorations. Instead, my eyes went straight to Caius and his bright, gleaming red eyes.

A smile crossed his face and his eyes seemed to sparkle with desire. It was not the same look Laurent's eyes held on the day I became a vampire. Laurent's eyes were black and filled with lust that made me shudder every time I remembered them. Caius's eyes were filled with passionate longing that made my non-beating heart melt like hot wax.

I smiled back at him as Caius stepped forward to take me from Emmett. I gave my brother a tight hug before taking Caius's hand and following him to face the human priest the Volturi had found.

The priest began speaking the traditional words in Latin and Edward silently translated the words for me. Caius glanced down with me with a happy smile on his face and squeezed my hand lightly. I smiled up and him and squeezed back, wishing the priest would hurry up.

When the priest finally finished, Caius began to say his vows first.

"I, Caius, take you, Rachel, to be my beloved wife, my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live."

I repeated the vows, switching the names and changing 'wife' to 'husband'. The priest said a few more words and the next thing I knew, Caius's lips were on mine, kissing me with all the love he had to give and our audience clapped and cheered.

I kissed back, my arms snaking up around his neck to pull him closer and I sighed in content when we pulled away.

Finally, I was married to a wonderful man I loved deeply and I hoped nothing would ever stand in the way of our love.

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**Yeah, not as good as I would have liked but I think the Epilogue will be better :D**


	34. Epilogue

**and Here's the very end!! I might write a sequel for this, I'm not sure yet... If I do, it will be set during Breaking Dawn and how Rachel copes with both her families fighting.**

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**Emmett POV**

"Do you think that maybe they're rushing into this too fast?" Edward asked as I watched my sister dance with her new husband. I knew they wouldn't hear us. They were too busy looking at each other with that look Rose and I give each other.

"I don't know," I replied with a sort of sigh. "I mean, they seem like they're made for each other, maybe they are."

"Yeah, but I still feel like something's… wrong," Edward replied.

"I guess…" I trailed off. "Alice," I hissed and she bounced right over, her arm still locked around Jasper. Poor guy. He was probably dragged around a lot. He probably didn't mind it though. He seemed like a guy who you couldn't make angry even if you dyed his hair green, set his car on fire, and drew a portrait of him, emphasizing all his scars. It was probably because you'd be laughing your head off and Jasper would get those happy emotions and he'd start laughing and forget about being mad.

Note to Emmett: dye Jasper's hair green, torch his car, and make fun of his scars.

Yeah, that'd be a great day! Edward stared at me with a weird look but then decided he wouldn't say anything. He can be such a good brother sometimes.

"Yes, Emmett?" she asked, her voice bright and bubbly.

"What do you think about them," Edward asked. "About their future, I mean."

"Well, you do know that the future is subjective, right?" she didn't wait for a response and went into a blank stare. "Well, as far as I can see, they're happy together. Rachel will stay with us most of the time but she'll go visit Caius a lot. After a while, it's fuzzy. I can't see any of our futures."

"So you don't see any problems." I didn't ask it, I stated it. She nodded.

"But then again, we make our own futures. Nothing's set in stone."

**The End**

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**Review please!! :D**

**Also, if you want me to tell you what happens later such as how Rachel keeps in touch with ALL members of her family, let me know and I will write a little chapter and post it on this story, but if no one wants to know, then I won't post it :D  
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	35. After

**Okay, here's the little piece I promised you. it's not as good as i wish it was, but that's okay :D**

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I sat, feeling rather bored, as I watched Caius, Marcus, and Aro deal with everyday matters such as planning how to run the city better and keep the humans from learning the existence of vampires and such.

If I thought my life had been boring before, I was wrong.

I sneakily threw my shoe at Andrea who seemed to be staring off into space. It landed in her lap and I congratulated myself on a perfect throw.

"_What?"_ Andrea thought as she gave me a half-hearted glare.

"_You're just as bored as I am," I_ smirked.

"_Obviously,"_ Andrea laughed inwardly. _"Do you think we have to stay here?"_

"_I hope not… Let's find out,"_ I grinned as I stood up, unnoticed by the three Volturi leaders and the other male members, and walked over to Andrea, beckoning her to follow me.

We walked outside and around the Volturi 'palace' to admire all the flowers.

"Ooh, these are pretty," Andrea called to me. I looked up from the Irises and skipped over to see what she was looking at.

There were clusters of daises, the petals a snowy white and the center was a pretty sunshine yellow.

"Ooh, daises are my favorite," I laughed as I plucked one and sniffed it.

"Really? I thought roses were," Andrea said as she looked up at me curiously.

"It's an inside joke between daddy and I," I sighed as I put the daisy behind my ear and continued to walk around the garden.

--

I kneeled by one of the tall bookshelves of the library to grab a book at the very bottom row. I idly thought of how glad I am a certain annoying vampire wasn't around to bother me.

I started laughing to myself as I thought of all the crazy things we had done to get back at the vampire and lost my balance. I fell onto my back and attempted to smother my laughter so I could get up.

"Are you alright?" Michelle asked as she and Venus poked their head around the shelf.

"Fine, fine," I said through giggles as I stood up. "Just thinking about all the crazy things Emmett does," I added with a sigh.

--

I walked through the fancy hallways aimlessly, trying to think of something to do. It was a fairly sunny day so I couldn't go outside and Caius was stuck in a meeting with some vampires that came all the way from Australia.

I looked up and immediately recognized the familiar doors. I touched each of the doors as I walked past them. Mine… Edward's… Em and Rose's… Carlisle and Esme's…

I opened each of the doors and wandered through all of them, just to see if anyone had left anything.

As it turned out, Edward had left something behind. Of all vampires, _Edward_ left something. Edward never forgot anything unless you counted the time he 'forgot' Emmett's and Rosalie's anniversary but that was on purpose.

I picked up the small box that lay on Edward's bed and wondered how he could have forgotten it when it was in plain sight. Had he meant to leave it there?

I opened the black box carefully and found a folded, white piece of paper. I pulled it out, opened it and placed the black box in my pocket.

It read:

"_Dear Rachel,_

_Once again, congratulations on your wedding. You may not have noticed it, but you were in desperate need of finding someone to love. I'm glad you've finally found him. My only concern is that you were married too quickly and you didn't have time to adjust to life in Volterra with out us._

_I won't lecture you on things you already know but just make sure you're happy with what you're doing before you make any permanent plans._

_Don't forget to write… you know how Esme will be if you don't._

_Best of luck,_

_Edward"_

I sighed as I reread the letter many times. I put the letter back in its box and walked out of Edward's room, closing the door carefully behind me.

--

It had been two days since I found Edward's letter but I must have read it over a thousand times.

Did we move too fast? I had only met Caius three months ago but it felt as if I had known him a life time. Did that make up for the lack of time?

I decided that it did and moved on to another part of the letter I kept going back to.

Yes, I did know how Esme would be if I didn't write. But she'd still be sad no matter how many letters I wrote. I had to admit that I would too.

I knew I'd miss my family dearly, but I didn't know it would be this painful. I guess I thought I'd be a little busier as the wife of a Volturi leader.

"Why the long face?" Aro asked as he sat across from me. I hadn't realized I was frowning. I looked up at him curiously and he lightly plucked the letter out of my hands.

He read it quickly and gave me an amused look.

"You miss your family," Aro stated.

"You know all that from reading a letter that Edward wrote?" I asked, my eyebrow raised in curiosity. Aro laughed.

"No, I just touched your hand when I grabbed the letter," Aro explained as he handed the letter back. "Listen, if you're so upset about it, why don't you go home?"

"I'm not upset," I protested. "I just miss them. Most newlyweds miss their families," I reminded him.

"Right," he said though he was obviously unconvinced. "Do you know the story of Persephone?" I nodded and asked what that had to do with anything.

"Well, Persephone spent six months with her husband and six months with her mother," Aro explained. I was silent for a moment before speaking up.

"So you want me to spend six months here and six months with my family?"

"It doesn't have to be exactly six months. As I understand your schooling system, that would make it suspicious," Aro replied. "Just spend some time here and when you're ready to go home, spend sometime there and when you want to come back, come back," Aro explained. "Caius can't leave and you can't stay here… well, you can't stay forever anyway."

I nodded and sighed. "I guess that's the only choice I have. I'll never be happy if I'm stuck in one place."

"Right, well," Aro began as he stood up. "You think about it, and when you decide, let us know." And with that, Aro left.

--

I kissed Caius before getting into the car.

"I'll miss you," Caius said as he stopped me from closing the door.

"And I'll miss you," I sighed as I looked up at him with sad eyes.

Caius smiled and kissed my forehead. "Until you come back." He closed the door and waved goodbye as the car drove away.

--

"Rachel!" Esme shrieked as she ran to give me a hug. I had trouble keeping my balance and fell down on top of my suitcases, bringing Esme with me.

"Missed you too, Esme," I laughed. Esme rolled off of me and I sat up to see the rest of my family. "Oh, hey, Carlisle!" I reached in one of my bags. "I got you a daisy!" I grinned as I handed out the flower that was somehow still alive.

Carlisle laughed as he thanked me for it and placed it in my hair after he helped me up.

The rest of the night went by in a mini celebration. Rachel felt better with her new plan. It wasn't exactly how she wished things could go, but it was better than being stuck in one place.

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**Woot... sucky ending to that little piece :D**


	36. Author's Note!

Wow, I am SOOO sorry for all the craptastic-ness that was in some of those chapters. Really, I am sorry. I'm actually kind of sad about some of the cliché, boring, crap…ness… (sorry, I can't find any other words to describe just how upset I am about some of these things!)

And, really, that chapter titled "After"… did I really do that horrible of formatting? And I switched from first to third person perspective! I can't tell you how annoying that is for me so I can only imagine how annoying it was for you all!

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But on to the other reason for putting up this little note…

Since summer is almost here (I'm ALMOST done with this school year… so close, I can taste the freedom-y feel of sunshine) I've started to get ideas for what I will do if (and probably when, crossing my fingers that I'll get around to it) I write a sequel for this.

**Number one on my list**: fix up some of the previous chapters. My goal is NOT to make them perfect (I don't have nearly enough patience for that) but I am going to change some things around, try to make it a little more coherent. And I'll change Alejandro very slightly. I just feel really bad because he's not my character and I never asked the person who created him if I could use him. (bad, bad me!) So I think I will tweak him enough to keep his scenes close to the original but he won't be the same Alejandro. I'll change his name too. Also, I think I'm going to change some of the scenes with the four girl vampires (Erin, Michelle, Andrea and Venus) around so it's not so confusing but I'm not going to take any of them out.

**Two**: I still need to explain to everyone why this Caius has black hair and Aro has white when in the saga, it's the opposite. When I write the sequel, I'll probably write a few scenes that take place between the end of _Amore Italiano_ and the sequel. It will involve some interaction (or lack thereof) between Caius and Rachel and one of the vampires that Stephenie introduces in Breaking Dawn- Alistair, possibly? Also, these little 'in between views' (pardon my lack of creativeness) will show when Rachel meets Bella because the bulk of the story will take place post-_Breaking Dawn_.

**Three**: actually figure out exactly where I want to go with the story! After I write the 'in between views' I'll ask you all what you want me to write about if I haven't already gotten an idea. So far, I've thought that Rachel could either

a) travel the world and meet new people (not too fond of this idea)

b) stay with the Cullens. Rachel, Carlisle and maybe Jasper would work on researching or experimenting with certain aspects of the vampire anatomy (skin, venom, etc)

c) go and stay with one of the other clans for a while or maybe even stalk Alistair and make him be somewhat social (I just really like Alistair for some reason, not quite sure why)

And, if you're wondering where Caius comes into all this, I've yet to figure out what to do with him. I mean, come on, the man was ready to go off and kill all the Cullens & co. and I'm not going to change that part. So obviously, Rachel will have some problems with that. No matter what plan I decide on, Caius will be some how involved though more likely than not, he won't physically show up much. Mainly e-mails or webcam-chats.

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Anyway, let me know what you all think about these ideas and if you'd be willing to read a sequel (that I honestly have no idea when I'll start writing it).

Also, what do you all think of the movies? I've been wondering how people feel about them. I personally, think they could have been MUCH better. But that might just be because I'm not a huge Rob- or Kristen-fan. Taylor Lautner though… mmm amazing :D

What about _Breaking Dawn_? Did you like it? What did you think about the ending? Again, I personally was not so thrilled with it, but oh well. I think she could have stopped at the end of _Eclipse_.

So please review and tell me what you think! Thanks to everyone for their wonderful support, even though I don't feel I deserve it for this story!


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